Vanderbilt falls to Xavier in Nashville Regional elimination game
Xavier appeared to have all the momentum against Vanderbilt entering the ninth inning of Sunday’s Nashville Regional of the NCAA Tournament. Then, a four-hour weather delay pushed things off for four hours as teams waited out lightning in the area, and it could’ve given the Commodores a chance to re-group and take back control of the game.
The Musketeers weren’t phased.
Justin Loer, who was on the mound before the rain delay, came back out after the stoppage and picked up right where he left off. He mowed down the Vanderbilt hitters 1-2-3 to seal the 2-1 victory and knock the No. 6-seeded Commodores out of the NCAA Tournament field.
Xavier now advances to the Nashville Regional final, where it will take on Oregon Sunday night with a spot in the Super Regionals on the line. First pitch is set for 55 minutes after the conclusion of Xavier vs. Vanderbilt, which would be approx. 10 p.m. ET.
Vanderbilt and Xavier were tied 1-1 in the seventh inning, but Matt DePrey was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. That brought in the go-ahead run to make it a 2-1 Musketeers lead, and that was still the score entering the ninth inning when Mother Nature decided to make her presence known.
Vanderbilt finishes the season with a 42-20 overall record and a 19-11 mark in SEC play. Afterward, Commodores coach Tim Corbin opened up about the early exit from the tournament, sharing the feelings of the clubhouse after the loss.
“It’s tough to finalize something,” Corbin said, via The Tennesseean’s Aria Gerson. “It’s tough to put it to bed and that’s what takes the energy out of you really is putting the final touches on a team, and it’s only one that can do it, but I guess you always dream about it being you, but it’s a tough deal and we’ll manage, the sun will come up tomorrow, we’ll move forward.”
It was an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel as Sam Hliboki and Luke Hoskins battled it out on the mound. Hoskins got the win for Xavier as he allowed three hits and just one run over seven innings of work. Hliboki got the start for Vanderbilt — he threw 5.2 innings, struck out three and allowed just one earned run — but Patrick Reilly took the loss after giving up the seventh-inning hit by pitch that eventually helped the Musketeers in the game.