Even as the No. 9 hitter in the Vanderbilt lineup, Jayson Gonzalez delivered a thunderous offensive performance on Saturday to fuel the Commodores’ 7-6 victory in 12 innings.

Gonzalez delivered the winning hit, and overall went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, a walk, a strikeout, and scored two runs. He also hit a home run in the win. After the game, he recapped the night at a press conference.

“It was great,” he said. “It’s just a dream come true to be here, be in this situation. We’ve all worked so hard to get to this moment. So it’s a pretty special moment.”

Gonzalez added that he doesn’t mind hitting at the bottom of the order.

“I would have the same approach if he put me any higher in the lineup, you know?,” he said. “I’m just glad I’m in the ninth because I get to see a lot more at-bats. I get to see a lot more pitches. And when I get up to the plate I get to know what the pitcher has and what he can land and not. So I think my approach would be the same if I’m at the bottom, top, middle, yeah, it wouldn’t matter.”

He also described his approach in the 12th inning at-bat.

“My whole thought process was just try to get a ball over the plate,” he said. “Put the ball in play and hopefully something good happens out of it. And thankfully something good happened out of that pitch.”

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.