Commodores Shut Out Quinnipiac

Games like the Quinnipiac midweek series show how well the Vanderbilt team works together. Not just with hitting and not just with pitching, but the two coming together to pull out a couple of wins after a rough weekend in LA.

Rhett Wiseman and Dansby Swanson nearly overshadowed some excellent pitching by both starters and bullpen performances, as they led the bats with a home run each in separate games. Wiseman went 4-for-7 with five runs scored and three RBI, with one walk. Swanson went 4-for-6 with five runs scored and two RBI, with two walks. **These stats may be incorrect as I'm currently running on less than five non-consecutive hours of sleep over the past 60 hours, non-consecutive meaning waking up at least once per hour. (Don't make me do stats grumpy.)

But the pitching kept the Bobcat bats quiet with only seven hits all week, and just two garbage-time runs.

(I need a better camera.)

GAME ONE: Vanderbilt 9, Quinnipiac 2

March 10, 2015

The first game in the two-game midweek series against Quinnipiac was quiet through the first five frames before Quinnipiac pitcher threw 9 straight balls, one a HBP to load the bases. After a pitching change, Rhett Wiseman ran in the first run of the ballgame with a fielder’s choice. The bases were loaded once again with a Swanson walk (which sounds like a really awesome dance move), and with only one out, Zander Wiel singled up the middle to score another. Bryan Reynolds singled in two more for the Commodores to take a commanding 4-0 lead.

Ro Coleman scored in the bottom of the sixth on a sac fly, extending the Commodore lead to 5-0. With Quinnipiac struggling with pitching in the later innings, Commodores took advantage of that and an error to score their sixth run of the ballgame.

The Commodores scored again in the seventh off a Tyler Campbell single. Another solo home run by Rhett Wiseman brought the Commodore lead to 8-0 in the eighth. Swanson scores on a Penn Murfee RBI single to make it 9-0 before heading to the top of the ninth. Quinnipiac scored twice to avoid a shutout in the top of the ninth before falling to the Commodores 9-2.

GAME TWO: Vanderbilt 8, Quinnipiac 0

March 11, 2015

Tyler Ferguson took the mound to start this second game of the two-game series against Quinnipiac, and kept the Bobcats scoreless in the first by tagging the runner out at home. Rhett Wiseman (who would’ve guessed?) doubles in the first run of the ballgame on a hard grounder just inside the first base bag that no fielder could handle. Swanson moved Wiseman over to third on a single, but Wiel hit into a double-play that still allowed Wiseman to score. In the second, Ferguson was chased early as the bases were loaded with no outs, but his replacement, Ryan Johnson, got out of the jam unscathed. Swanson later hits a two-run home run over left center field to also score teammate Rhett Wiseman on his first pitch, making the lead 4-0 in the Commodores' favor.

In the bottom of the fifth, Bryan Reynolds chimed in with a single to score Dansby Swanson, stretching the Commodore lead to 5-0. Shortly after in the sixth, Jeren Kendall singles in Liam Sabino (who has an AWFUL walk-up song, like the rest of the lineup) before getting thrown out at second trying to make it a double. The seventh saw another Commodore run as Wiel’s sac-fly scored Wiseman. An error scored the second run of the inning, extending the Commodore lead to 8-0.

Quinnipiac got their sole hit in the eighth, though they left eight runners on base in the ballgame. Commodores win with eight runs on nine hits.

Coming up...

Vanderbilt opens SEC play this weekend as they host the Arkansas Razorbacks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Start times will be 6:30 pm on Friday, 2 pm on Saturday and noon on Sunday. Tune in for the weekend preview, the recap on Monday and maybe a special segment featuring on of the Vanderbilt players on a hot streak in between...