Vandy Edges No. 6 Illinois, Will Defend National Crown

By Phil Stanton

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

@roadtoomaha

 

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - It was the type of game many expected for the entire series.

 

After rolling to a 13-0 victory on Saturday, Vanderbilt gutted out a 4-2 win over No. 6 national seed Illinois Monday afternoon in Game 2 of the Champaign Super Regional in front of 3,767 fans at Illinois Field to return to the College World Series.

 

"We saw the type of team that Illinois is and was," said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin, "a very hard-nosed team, very difficult to beat. I'm so proud of our team. This is very difficult to do."

 

Game 2 was originally scheduled to be played on Sunday, but was postponed due to inclement weather in the Champaign area.

 

It was a day with huge subplots. The Illini (50-10-1) were looking to keep their magical season going. The Commodores (47-19), the defending national champions, were looking for another trip to Omaha. The first round of the Major League Baseball Draft was to be held close to the end of the game and both teams had players expecting to hear their names called.

 

Vandy had a huge sequence late in the game to help secure the win. The Commodores held a slim 3-2 advantage in the bottom of the seventh. Karl Ellison had a leadoff single and was sacrificed to second by Tyler Campbell. Ellison moved to third on a base hit by Ro Coleman and scored on a safety squeeze single by Rhett Wiseman to give Vanderbilt a 4-2 lead.

 

Illinois responded in the top of the eighth. Jason Goldstein had a leadoff single and moved to second on a one-out base hit by Pat McInerney. David Kerian drew a walk to load the bases. Kyle Wright took over on the mound for Vanderbilt and got a flyout and strikeout to end the threat.

 

"We competed very well today," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "I thought Tyler Jay threw well. Nick Blackburn threw well out of the bullpen. We had a lot of quality at-bats. We had some opportunities, couldn't come up with the big two-out hit. No regrets on anything the entire day. Our guys competed, played extremely well. We just came up short."

 

Wright would retire the Illini in order in the top of the ninth to start the celebration for the Commodores. It was his third save of the season. The win went to starter Philip Pfeifer (5-4), who allowed seven hits and two runs in 6.2 innings with three walks and four strikeouts.

 

"He pitched very well as the day progressed," Corbin said of Pfeifer. "I was so proud of the start."

 

Dansby Swanson had quite the day for Vandy. After a strikeout against Jay in the first, he homered to lead off the fourth to tie the game at 2. It was his 15th dinger of the season.

 

"The first time, it was the first time I faced Tyler Jay," Swanson said. "He was locating really well, staying down in the zone. His slider was working well. He was able to locate down on my back foot. I was able to clear a little bit of space for myself, look out over the plate and adjust to what would come. I was able to come across a slider that was left up a little bit."

 

Swanson doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth. And shortly after the game, Swanson was the first overall pick in the MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

 

Jay (5-2) suffered the loss. He surrendered 10 hits and four runs in 6.1 innings with no walks and six strikeouts.

 

"Tyler Jay was fantastic," Corbin said. "We really had to battle to break him and we just barely did."

 

About 30 minutes after the game, Jay was the sixth overall pick in the MLB Draft, taken by the Minnesota Twins.

 

"It was the ultimate low to the ultimate high in about half an hour," Jay said. "It's incredible."

 

The Illini started the scoring in the top of the first. Ryan Nagle stayed hot with a one-out single up the middle. Consecutive walks to Reid Roper and Jason Goldstein loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly by Casey Fletcher plated Nagle with the game's first run.

 

The Commodores tied it in the bottom of the second as Zander Wiel led off with a line drive homer to right, his 14th of the season, to make it a 1-1 contest.

 

Illinois answered in the top of the third. With two away, Fletcher doubled down the left field line and scored on a base hit to center by McInerney to give the Illini a 2-1 advantage.

 

Vandy had a chance to tie it in the bottom of the third. Campbell was hit by a pitch with one away and stole second with two outs. Wiseman hit a slow roller to second that Reid Roper tried to barehand. Wiseman reached on the infield single, but Campbell rounded third and kept coming home. Roper threw to catcher Goldstein, who ran Campbell back toward third and tagged him out to end the threat.

 

Following Swanson's homer, Vandy tried to take the lead later in the fourth as Wiel singled, stole second and moved to third on a groundout. He tried to score on a grounder to second, but was thrown out at the plate to keep it a 2-2 contest.

 

Swanson, Wiseman and Wiel all finished with two hits for the Commodores.

 

Nagle went 3 for 5 and finished with five hits in the Super Regional.

 

Notes

• Illinois was 5-0 playing as the visiting team at Illinois Field this year prior to Monday's game, going 3-0 vs. Northwestern and 2-0 in the NCAA Regional.

• Pitcher Carson Fulmer of Vanderbilt, the winning pitcher in Game 1 of the Super Regional, was the eighth overall selection in the MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox.

• Former Vanderbilt pitcher and current Detroit Tigers hurler David Price visited the ESPN TV booth in the fifth inning. He was on the field as the Commodores were celebrating following the game.

• Illinois had just two losses in 27 home games prior to falling twice to Vanderbilt in the Super Regional.