KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 11 Vanderbilt lost 3-2 at No. 15 Tennessee on Friday evening in the series opener at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Commodores trailed 3-0 before scoring runs in the eighth and ninth innings, coming up a run short of extending the contest.
Tennessee recorded three consecutive hits to start the bottom of the second, scoring the game’s first run on an RBI single. Vandy starting pitcher JD Thompson recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat with just the one run allowed.
Thompson stranded a pair of runners on base again in the bottom of the fourth, using his fifth strikeout of the game to end the inning.
Tennessee extended its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth, but again Thompson was able to manage the damage with an inning-ending double play.
Thompson exited after six innings, handing the ball over to Alex Kranzler. The southpaw finished with six strikeouts and limited the Vols to just the two runs.
Tennessee went in front by three in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single to left field, but again Vanderbilt completed a double play, the third of the game, to end the inning.
Vanderbilt broke through offensively in the top of the eighth as Jonathan Vastine ripped a double to the left-center gap. Vastine moved to third on a fly out before coming home to score on an infield single by Rustan Rigdon, cutting Tennessee’s lead to 3-1.
Brodie Johnston, who hit his 10th homer of the season at Louisville on Tuesday, made it 11 on the year with a solo blast to left-center in the top of the ninth to pull the Dores to within a run.
Tennessee would hang on to win 3-2. Vanderbilt will look to even the series in Game 2 on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
