NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Braden Holcomb hit a walk-off, two-run homer in the ninth inning Sunday as Vanderbilt overcame a five-run deficit to beat Alabama, 9-7, and take the series at Hawkins Field.
The Dores trailed the Crimson Tide 7-2 entering the bottom of the eighth. Vandy scored three runs in the eighth and four in the ninth to win it.
The rally started, and ended, with Holcomb. Holcomb hit a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth to cut Alabama’s lead down to four. After a walk to Mac Rose, Colin Barczi launched a two-run shot to right, pulling the Dores to within two.
Mike Mancini started off the bottom of the ninth with a single and Rustan Rigdon was hit by a pitch to put the tying run on base. RJ Austin laid down a sac bunt to move both runners into scoring position before Brodie Johnston, with two outs, tied the game with a line drive into the left-center gap.
After Johnston’s game-tying double, Holcomb hit his second homer of the game to deep center, sending the fans home happy with a 9-7 win.
Holcomb tripled in the sixth before his home runs in the eighth and ninth innings, finishing the game 3-for-5 with three RBI, two runs scored and 11 total bases.
Vanderbilt jumped out to an early lead as Riley Nelson put a charge into a ball in the bottom of the first for his sixth home run on the season, fifth in SEC play. Nelson’s solo blast traveled 420 feet to center field.
The Dores doubled their lead in the bottom of the third. Rustan Rigdon worked a one-out walk and reached second on a groundout. Nelson then picked up his second RBI of the day with a single through the shift on the right side, scoring Rigdon from second to make it 2-0.
The Crimson Tide took advantage of two walks in the top of the fourth, hitting a three-run homer to pull ahead by a run.
Another walk set up a two-run homer in the top of the sixth as the Crimson Tide extended their lead. Alabama scored two more runs on a pair of singles to go up 7-2 before Vandy’s rally started in the eighth.
Along with Holcomb’s big day, Johnston went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI and Nelson finished 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBI.
Sawyer Hawks earned the win with two innings of work. Connor Fennell made the start and struck out nine batters over 5.1 innings. The Commodore pitching staff finished with 14 strikeouts, marking the 13th consecutive game with double-digit punchouts.
Vanderbilt improves to 34-14 on the season and 14-10 in SEC action. The Commodores travel up I-65 to face Louisville on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT on ACC Network.
