As the rain cleared out of Nashville over the latter part of the weekend, the Commodores attempted to shake off Friday night's tough 9-3 loss to Ole Miss with doubleheader action on Sunday afternoon. While the Rebels (11-4, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) captured game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader, edging the Commodores 6-1, Vanderbilt answered in the final game of the series with a 7-6 win.
As Saturday's game was postponed due to inclement weather and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader, consisting of two seven-inning contests, coach Tim Corbin and the Commodores (11-6, 1-2) understood the vital importance of a win during the series.
"Every time you have an inexperienced group that drops a game, their confidence drops a little bit too," Corbin said.
The Commodores were sure not to let their confidence waver, as they took the field in the final game of the series.
Taking control of the game with an explosive offense from the early innings, Vanderbilt was able to edge Ole Miss and hold onto the win with sound pitching from sophomore right-hander Nick Christiani and freshman standout Sonny Gray.
Shortstop Brian Harris led-off for the Commodores with a game-opening double down the left-field line. Second baseman Riley Reynolds followed, doubling down the opposite line, allowing Harris to score easily. Reynolds was then able to score off of back-to-back singles from Steven Liddle and Curt Casali.
Vanderbilt widened its lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the second inning, as freshman designated hitter Joe Loftus singled into right. Loftus advanced on Jason Esposito's hit and scored on Harris' single into center.
Esposito scored on Curt Casali's single, and Harris scored on a bases-loaded walk issued by pitcher David Goforth. In the bottom of the third, the Commodores were able to take advantage of a Rebels' fielding error to add another run to the scoreboard, as Loftus advanced to third and then scored on a fielder's choice.
As Ole Miss answered, scoring three runs in the top of the fourth and tying the score at six, the Commodores were quick not to become discouraged. In both game one and game two of the series, Ole Miss was able to put the Commodores away by capitalizing on a number of multi-run innings. This time, however, the Commodores' defense held its own.
As the Commodores' bats picked up in the latter game of the doubleheader, the defense settled down. After Christiani pitched three and one-third innings against the Rebels, Gray held Ole Miss to only one run on two hits over the remainder of the game.
"I think the big thing for a young kid like Sonny, as he's got a special arm, is that he's unfazed by the fact that three guys got on in a row and tied it back up again," Corbin said.
With Gray and the Commodores' defense holding the Rebels scoreless for the final three innings of the game, it was the offense's turn to answer one final time. They were able to do just that, breaking the 6-6 deadlock.
While Harris went 2-for-3 in the first game of the afternoon, scoring the Commodores' sole run, his hitting proved most vital in Vanderbilt's final game. Harris again went 2-for-3, this time scoring two runs with three RBIs. The junior shortstop's leadership and confidence in his timely hitting was most evident, however, as Harris drove in Loftus with a sacrifice fly to right field in the bottom of the fifth for the winning run.
"When I went up to (Harris) in the on-deck circle, I said ǃÚyou know what you have to do here,' and he said ǃÚI'll get it done,'" Corbin said. "He's just a kid that's been around the program for a while."
Despite finishing the series 1-2 against Ole Miss, the final Saturday afternoon win provided an important confidence boost for the young Commodores.
"We as a team came together, and we were able to get the win," Gray said. "We were able to build some confidence going into these next two midweek games."
