Vandy Uses Big Innings to Win at #6 Illinois

By Phil Stanton

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

@roadtoomaha

 

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The first inning set the tone for the game.

 

Vanderbilt scored three in the top of the first and Illinois was unable to take advantage of consecutive singles in the bottom of the frame as the defending national champion recorded a 13-0 victory in Game 1 of the Champaign Super Regional Saturday evening at Illinois Field.

 

The Commodores (46-19) jumped on Kevin Duchene in the top of the first. Rhett Wiseman and Dansby Swanson had back-to-back one-out singles and Zander Wiel was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Will Toffey drew a walk to force in a run, Bryan Reynolds had an RBI single and Jeren Kendall drove in a run with a groundout to give Vanderbilt a 3-0 advantage.

 

"Our first inning was a big thing for us at the time," Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin said. "I thought for us the key at bat of the night was when Toffey going from 0-2 to 3-2 and drew the walk. I thought that allowed us to get the inning going."

 

The Illini (50-9-1) attempted to rally in the bottom of the frame. Leadoff hitter Adam Walton singled and moved to third on a base hit by Ryan Nagle. Carson Fulmer fanned Reid Roper before rolling a 4-6-3 double play to keep the home team off the scoreboard.

 

Vanderbilt added to its lead in the third without benefit of a hit. Toffey drew a one-out walk, moved to third on an error and came in on a balk to make it 4-0.

 

Illinois put its leadoff hitter on in three of the first four innings, but Fulmer kept the Illini scoreless.

 

The Commodores doubled its lead in the fifth. Toffey walked and Reynolds singled to start the inning. Kendall had a bunt single and a throwing error plated Toffey while ending the night for Duchene (11-2, 4.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K). Karl Ellison drove in a run with a groundout. Kendall was caught in a rundown and was awarded home on an obstruction call. Wiseman's RBI single pushed the lead to 8-0.

 

Tyler Campbell went deep in the seventh for the second time this season. In the ninth, Kendall had a two-run homer and Kyle Smith added a two-run single to make the final 13-0.

 

"We just didn't play very well," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "The bottom line is we made nine major mistakes. We walked guys, we hit guys and we made errors. When you do that to a good team you come out on the short end."

 

The Illini walked three, hit three batters and committed three errors.

 

Kendall went 2 for 4 with two runs and three RBI, while Reynolds was 3 for 5 with two runs and one RBI.

 

Fulmer (13-2) worked 6.1 innings with four hits, five walks and five strikeouts.

 

"From Carson's vantage point, I thought he did an outstanding job because he was in a situation that he didn't have the count for most of the night," Corbin said. "He kept a quality team off the scoreboard and not having the count is indicative of how hard he competes, the quality of the pitches he has to make."

 

Nagle went 2 for 3 with a walk for the Illini.

 

Game 2 of the Champaign Super Regional will be played on Sunday, June 7 at 8 p.m. CT.

 

Notes

• Illinois was 25-2 at home prior to the first Super Regional contest. The Illini had their 19-game home win streak snapped by the Commodores, who are now 14-7 in away contests.

• Junior Kyle Smith had a pinch-hit two-run double in the ninth for Vanderbilt. He had been 0 for 14 this season and 0 for his last 46 over the past two years.

• Over the past two games, the Commodores have outscored their opponents 34-0. Prior to its 13-0 victory over Illinois, Vanderbilt blanked Radford 21-0.

• Saturday's attendance total of 3,605 was the fifth-highest total in Illinois Field history. The Illini averaged 1,570 prior to Saturday's game, a school record. The previous mark was 1,270, set in 1990.