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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Despite holding Vanderbilt scoreless over the final seven innings and out-hitting the Commodores by a 6-4 count, University of Missouri baseball fell to the ninth-ranked team in the country, 3-1, Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Field.
Vanderbilt (23-6, 6-3 SEC) made a three-run, first-inning rally stand, riding a third consecutive shutdown pitching effort to its 14th straight home victory — and a Southeastern Conference series sweep of the Tigers (10-18, 1-8 SEC).
Carter Holton (4-0) struck out eight hitters and held the Tigers to a single run on five hits over 7.0 innings, before Brennan Seiber and Miller Green combined to finish off the victory with two scoreless innings of relief.
Mizzou benefited from a strong mound effort from starting pitcher Javyn Pimental (1-1), who allowed just two hits over his 4.0 innings, and the duo of Bryce Mayer and Ryan Magdic, who blanked the Commodores on two hits over the final four innings.
After the Tigers limited Vanderbilt’s offense to a total of seven runs over the first two games of the series, the Commodores wasted little time in kicking their lineup into gear in the finale. Davis Diaz’s two-out, bases-loaded double chased home three early runs for the home club, which took advantage of two walks and a hit batsman to generate the first-inning rally.
Holton followed the lead of previous Vanderbilt starting pitchers in the series, cruising through the first three frames, striking out five consecutive Mizzou hitters at one point.
But the Tigers broke through in the fourth, using back-to-back, two-out singles by Kaden Peer and Justin Colon to plate their first earned run of the series against a Vandy starting pitcher.
Mizzou engineered scoring opportunities in the fifth and seventh innings as well. Juju Stevens’ leadoff single started the fifth, before a failed pickoff attempt gave the Tigers a runner in scoring position. Holton recovered to extinguish the threat with a strikeout, then stranded Mizzou runners on the corners in the seventh to preserve Vandy’s two-run advantage.
After Holton yielded to Seiber in the eighth, the Tigers put two more batters aboard, after Trevor Austin was hit by a pitch and Jedier Hernandez singled with one out. But the Vandy right-hander got a called third strike and a chopper to third to keep Mizzou off the scoreboard.
Green then finished off the victory — and his second save of the season — by retiring the only two hitters he faced after inheriting a Mizzou baserunner in the ninth.
Colon led the Tigers with a 2-for-4 day at the plate, while Stevens singled and walked in his four plate appearances to pace the Mizzou offense.
TIGER NOTEBOOK
- Austin was hit by a pitch for the ninth time this season and the 38th time in his Mizzou career.
- Mayer worked his second consecutive scoreless relief outing in SEC play, logging 2 1/3 innings of one-hit relief.
- Magdic registered his third scoreless relief appearance in his last four outings since March 9.
- Hernandez (1-for-4) logged a hit for the sixth time in his eight SEC contests this season.
- For the three-game series, Mizzou pitching limited the Commodores to 10 runs (3.33 per game) and a collective .247 batting average.
- Missouri dropped to 5-30 all-time vs. Vanderbilt.
UP NEXT
The Tigers return to Taylor Stadium to open a two-game nonconference midweek series against UT Martin Tuesday (April 2) evening at 6 p.m. (CDT).
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