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Vanderbilt finishes off sweep of Kentucky heading into SEC Tournament
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Vanderbilt couldn’t have asked for a better sendoff to the SEC Baseball Tournament.
The Commodores completed a 3-game weekend sweep of Kentucky on Saturday in Nashville with a 5-3 victory. The win followed a thrilling, 9-8 walk-off win on Friday in Game 2 and Thursday’s equally pulsating 8-7 victory in Game 1 that Vanderbilt pulled out with 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth.
After all those ninth-inning heroics on Thursday and Friday, with both walk-off wins coming on home runs, Vanderbilt finally won the more normal way on Saturday to bring out the brooms in Nashville and cap off an impressive 39-16 regular season. The Commodores also finished with a solid 19-11 record in the SEC as they head to Hoover, AL, for next week’s SEC Tournament.
The sweep over Kentucky will help Vandy’s cause in Hoover, too, as it secured a double bye in the tournament for the Commodores. Meanwhile, Kentucky remains on the NCAA Tournament bubble as it heads to Hoover with a 29-23 overall record and a 13-17 mark in the SEC.
Vanderbilt baseball’s social media account congratulated the Commodores on the weekend sweep with this post on Saturday:
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While Vanderbilt didn’t win on a walk-off for a change on Saturday, it doesn’t mean the victory was without drama. Kentucky scored 3 early runs off Vandy starter Cody Bowker, who allowed 2 solo homers. The Commodores stormed back yet again, though, tying the game at 3-3 in the 6th inning on an RBI groundout and a 2-run single.
Vanderbilt then took the lead for good in the 7th inning on a 2-run double by RJ Austin. Commodores’ pitching took it from there, shutting down the Wildcats to finish the sweep and put Vanderbilt in a good position as it leaves for the SEC Tournament.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
