Baseball Recap: Tigers Get Swept by Vanderbilt

After a run-rule victory midweek against SLU, the Tigers traveled to Nashville where they ran into a buzzsaw

The week started off great when the Tigers exploded offensively for 18 runs against SLU, but maybe they should’ve saved some hits for the weekend. In three games against Vanderbilt, the Tigers were outscored 28-6, and they’re now off to an 0-3 in the SEC.

Game Recaps

Friday

Coming into Friday’s game, Spencer Miles had a 1.88 ERA and had been every bit the Ace that the Tigers needed him to be. However, against the Commodores, his stretch of good starts came to a screeching halt. 3 innings and 7 ER was Miles’ line, and by the time the Tigers went to the bullpen in the fourth, the result of the game was already a foregone conclusion.

Miles’ Commodore counterpart, Chris McElvain, had a much more successful outing. He practically silenced the Missouri bats for the good part of 6 innings, allowing just 2 ER and punching out 8, and when he turned the ball over to his bullpen, they surrendered just 1 Tiger hit in the final 3 innings.

No Tiger hitters had multiple hits in this one, and Luke Mann and Josh Day were the only players to record RBIs, Day’s came via a HR. Meanwhile, the Vanderbilt offense exploded for 15 runs thanks to 4 hit games from Enrique Bradfield and Carter Young.

Here’s the lone Missouri highlight of this game, Day’s bomb in the 6th:

Saturday

In our preview of this series against Vanderbilt, we talked about how special the Commodores Saturday starter was going to be. Carter Holton, who’s only a freshman, is going to be a star in college baseball, and he looks like a future big league. On Saturday he showed why.

7 innings, 3 hits, 10 Ks.

That was Holton’s line in his first SEC start. I’d say that’s pretty damn good. He baffled Missouri hitters all night long, and Christian Little polished off the final two innings of the shutout. Only two Missouri hitters registered hits off the Vanderbilt arms, Juju Stevens, who had two, and Ty Wilmsmeyer.

Not only did a freshman lead the Commodores on the mound, but a freshman led at the plate, too. Davis Diaz, who we also highlighted as player to watch out for before this series, had four hits in this one. The Commodores didn’t explode offensively quite like they did in Game 1, but managed 6 runs total was more than enough with the quality of pitching they got.

Despite the loss, Trevor Austin still produced this webgem:

Sunday

Despite two poor showings on Friday and Saturday, the Tigers came out swinging on Sunday. A Mike Coletta RBI in the second inning got the Tigers on the board first, but back-to-back HRs from Spencer Jones and Dom Keegan put the Commodores back on top. However, the Tigers weren’t done. A 3-run 4th inning gave the Tigers the lead back, and they just needed to keep pitching, but that didn’t happen.

The Commodores got one back in the bottom half of the 4th, and then in the 7th, they took over. Back-to-back bombs from Kolwyck and Carter Young gave Vanderbilt the lead, and they never relinquished it. Two more insurance runs were more than enough, and Thomas Schultz shut the door in the 9th to complete the sweep for the Commodores.

Here’s Ross Lovich’s RBI single in the 4th that gave the Tigers the lead:

Standout Performer of the Weekend

Ty Wilmsmeyer – There weren’t many players who made strong impressions this weekend, but Wilmsmeyer made the biggest. He’s been a solid contributor for the Tigers this year with .361 AVG and a .398 OBP. This weekend he had 4 hits, including a 3-hit performance on Sunday. All season, he’s done a masterful job at the bottom of the lineup turning it over for the likes of Josh Day and Torin Montgomery, and this weekend was no different, the Tigers just couldn’t capitalize.