NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The University of Evansville baseball team out-hit the nationally-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores Wednesday night at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tennessee, but Vanderbilt DH Jonathan White’s walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning proved to be the difference, as the Commodores edged the Purple Aces by a score of 4-3.
After Evansville had rallied for three runs in the top half of the ninth inning to tie the game at 3-3, White followed a one-out double to center field by lead-off man David Macias with a run-scoring single to the wall in right-center field to help the Commodores knock off the Purple Aces. With the victory, Vanderbilt improves to 3-1 on the year, while Evansville drops to 0-4.
“This was a tough one to lose” said UE head coach David Seifert. “The guys really came to play today and battled hard, and played well enough to win. It’s hard when you play that hard and don’t get rewarded with a win, but this team has a lot of heart and character and they showed that today, and I am proud of them.”
Vanderbilt grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a two-out, two-run double by first baseman Andrew Giobbi, but UE starter John Foley would settle down and hold the Commodore attack to just two runs on five base hits in six innings of work in his UE debut.
“John Foley was outstanding today,” said Seifert. “He did a great job of keeping Vanderbilt off-balance all day long. We had a good game plan going in on how to pitch today, and John did a great job of executing that game plan. He was outstanding.”
Evansville would threaten with two runners on base in three of the first four innings, but VU starter Caleb Cotham was able to dance in and out of trouble thanks to the work of his defense.
The Commodores would tack on a third, unearned run in the seventh inning off of UE reliever Sean McCarthy (0-1), before the Purple Aces would rally to tie the score at 3-3 in the ninth inning. After a pair of walks to open the inning, freshman pinch-hitter Brian Robinson delivered an RBI single down the left field line to cut the UE deficit to 3-1.
After a fielder’s choice ground out plated UE’s second run of the frame, rookie outfielder Greg Wallace was able to beat out an infield RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. Macias was able to respond in the bottom of the ninth inning with a sinking-liner double to center field that just got under the glove of UE center fielder Nate Smith. White then came through with the game-winning hit with a drive to the wall in right center field.
Evansville out-hit Vanderbilt, ranked as high as fourth in the various collegiate baseball polls, thanks to two-hit efforts from Smith, Wallace, sophomore catcher Andy Pascoe, and junior infielder Andy Smith. McCarthy suffered the loss despite giving up just two runs (one earned) on four base hits in 2.1 innings of work. Giobbi paced Vanderbilt with two doubles and two RBI.
Evansville will now return home to kick off the home portion of its 2008 schedule by hosting Radford University in a three-game series at Charles H. Braun Stadium. The three-game series is set to begin on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. and continue both Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. each day. Friday’s home opener can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
