After losing a weekend series to the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Vanderbilt Commodores (20-6) earned their 20th win of the season on Tuesday. TheVandyBoys outdueled the Valparaiso Beacons, 2-1
Ethan McElvain excelled in his second consecutive midweek start. The freshman threw 41 strikes, allowed two hits and surrendered one run in six innings pitched.
“[McElvain] did a nice job,” Tim Corbin said. “I thought he did a good job attacking the zone. I’m happy for him and [he] certainly helped our team.”
The first inning was marked by scoreless possessions for both Vanderbilt and Valparaiso. The Commodores had one hit, which was a double from RJ Austin towards left center field.
In the top of the second inning, McElvain struck out his first batter. He then forced a pop out to second base before walking a player. The young pitcher then struck out a Valparaiso batter.
Vanderbilt struck first in the bottom of the second inning when Matt Ossenfort hit a solo shot to center field. Ossenfort’s homer was his first of his college career. Aside from the freshman’s run, the Commodores were unable to get on base.
McElvain’s flawless night ended soon after when he hit Chase Maifield. A few moments after McElvain forced a Valpo batter to fly out, Maifield stole second base. After one moment led to another, Valparaiso suddenly had runners on second and third base. McElvain allowed Valparaiso to tie the game at 1-1 when Brady Renfro grounded out to Vanderbilt’s shortstop with one out on the scoreboard.
One inning later, in the fourth inning, with Vanderbilt still tied at one apiece, McElvain forced two consecutive groundouts and a flyout. The Beacons responded with a 1-2-3 inning of their own.
The bottom of the fifth inning was when Vanderbilt looked to get back in its winning ways. Matthew Polk hit a double to right field, which lifted up all the fans inside Hawkins Field. Unfortunately for the Commodores, though, nothing much happened with the Vanderbilt bats. Vanderbilt had just three hits through five innings.
One inning later, Austin was on second base Davis Diaz was on first base with two outs. Alan Espinal put more pressure on Valpo with a hit that dropped in front of the right fielder. Troy LaNeve was walked with the bases loaded, which brought Austin home. Vanderbilt now had a 2-1 lead. The Commodores were unable to score again in the sixth inning.
McElvain was replaced by Alex Kranzler in the seventh inning. Kranzler started poorly, walking his first too batters. He then faced another batter and forced an out. Corbin replaced Kranzler for Miller Green right after. Of Kranzler’s 13 pitches on Tuesday only 5 were strikes.
Green forced a lineout against his first batter faced. Then — with runners on third and second base and two outs— Green threw a pitch that was hit to Diaz. Diaz bobbled the lineball and failed to get the ball to first base in time. Kade Reinertson scored from third base during the error.
Diaz’s throw to first base caused Austin to recover the ball quickly and throw the ball to Logan Poteet to stop Valpo from earning its first lead of the game. The throw was successful and Vanderbilt entered the seventh inning stretch tied with Valpo at two apiece.
Vanderbilt got its lead back in the bottom of the seventh inning when Jonathan Vastine scored a solo shot. Vastine’s homer was his fourth of the season.
The Bears and the Commodores exchanged scoreless innings in the penultimate period.
Brennan Seiber closed the night for Vanderbilt, successfully completing a 1-2-3 inning to secure the Commodores with their 20th win of the season.
Vanderbilt will get a day of rest tomorrow before returning to Hawkins Field for a weekend series against the Missouri Tigers, which will start on March 28 at 6 p.m. CDT.
