The No. 4 Vanderbilt Commodores swept Auburn 10-5 and 7-6 in a Saturday doubleheader, picking up a series win after allowing Auburn to win their first conference game the previous day.
The Tigers came desperately close to winning the second game after trailing for most of the game, but ultimately fell short after Melvin Gray's bases-loaded liner was snagged by the Commodore pitcher
“My heart really hurts for our guys,” coach Sunny Golloway said. “I told the guys, ‘Hey, my heart is broken for you and I feel for you, but please don’t hang your head.’”
The Commodores took the first game of the doubleheader 10-5 behind a big performance at the plate from first baseman Zander Wiel.
The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first after sophomore first baseman Daniel Robert laced a double down the left field line.
Three infield singles combined to plate the Commodores’ first run, then a bases-clearing double from Wiel made it a four-run third inning.
Vanderbilt added two more in the fifth after Robert booted a grounder with two outs. They then tacked on three more in the seventh after Wiel hit a solo home run to left and relief pitcher Will Thompson threw two wild pitches.
Wingenter pitched 4.1 innings for the Tigers and allowed six runs, three of which were earned, on five hits and two walks. Auburn stranded 12 runners and committed three errors in the loss.
Left fielder Jordan Ebert finished the game 3-for-5 with two doubles while Robert went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Vanderbilt wasted little time in the second game, jumping out to a 5-1 lead after the first two innings of play.
Wiel continued to hammer the Tigers with an RBI double in the first. Dansby Swanson then chased Auburn starter Rocky McCord with a two-run double in the second. An error and an RBI-single finished the big ending for the Commodores.
Auburn would scrap a couple runs back after Kyler Deese, who had the game-winning RBIs in Friday night’s game, laced a two-RBI double into right field.
First baseman Daniel Robert cut the deficit to two with a solo home run, but Bryan Reynolds answered with a solo blast off the batter’s eye in center field.
Sophomore Ben Bowden surrendered a leadoff triple to Blake Logan with the Tigers down three in the ninth, then loaded the bases before Damon Haecker drove in a run on a looping single.
A walk and a single by Robert tied the game, before Bowden worked his way out of the jam, snagging Gray’s line drive.
Golloway said he considered a squeeze bunt, but chose to let his players bat it out.
“I thought we had them,” Golloway said. “I can’t say enough about Melvin Gray’s at bat. 3-2, and I know you guys were feeling it too. It’s either ball four or bang, and he smoked a ball, but dang, it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Vanderbilt’s Bryan Reynolds drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning.
The Tigers will look to get back on the winning track Tuesday against Georgia Tech in Atlanta. First pitch is scheduled 5 p.m.
“There are five times in this league that are really good, and they’re one of them,” Golloway said. “The rest of us are really going to be in a dogfight to fill those last few spots.”
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