Vanderbilt Baseball has always had a flare for the dramatic under Tim Corbin the last 19 years and Thursday Night was no exception with a couple of explanation marks.
Sophomore left fielder Troy LaNeve caught a 1-1 pitch just right and cranked it over the left central field wall for a walk off 2 run shot as the Dores notched a critical victory in front of an ecstatic group of players and 2,985 fans at the Hawk, as we were victorious, 4-2, and moved to 18-9 in the SEC and 38-12 overall. We are the third ranked team in the country. Kentucky fell to 11-17 in the conference and 28—21 overall.
It started with a superb performance by Kumar, who went 7, threw 101 pitches, 66 for strikes against 35 balls, hitting 95-96 on the radar gun, allowing just 3 hits, 2 runs, a 2 run homer, with 2 walks and 11 K’s. Kumar now has 129 K’s on the season and leads the country and teammate Jack Leiter, who has 119. Jack, you got next.
The man is just a leader and such a competitor. Ecstatic he’s our’s and has been on our side for 3 years. He’s been a phenom as a baseball player and such a team guy. Kumar deserves every bit of success coming to him. Hoping there’s a lot more in college in store in 2021. Dom Keegan blasted a homer over the Green Monster in left, his 11th of the season, a solo shot. Dom is now hitting .370 with 11 homers and 55 Ribeyes. Troy was 3 for 3 with his 2 Ribbies coming on his left central field shot in the 9th. Troy is now hitting .424 with 4 homers and 12 RBIs. Troy doesn’t have enough bats to qualify for the SEC lead, but that’s OK. Just keep what you’re doing young man. He’s been miraculous for us.
Another electric moment happened in the top of the 9th when junior reliever Luke Murphy was pitching. Luke had the bases loaded with 2 outs and coaxed a fly out to Troy in left. Troy firmly gave a major fist pump, Luke was pumped and the bench erupted. The score was tied 2-2 and we couldn’t give up a run to Kentucky. It was like a high level NCAA Tournament moment with the reaction of our players and our fans. Just a special moment, and spurred on Troy’s dramatics in the bottom half.
So, Tennessee won and so did Arkansas. Tennessee is 19-9 and a 1/2 game ahead of us. Arkansas is 20-8. Tennessee is @ South Carolina and Arkansas is hosting Florida. So another major test for us tonight. Jack on the hill. Jack is 8-2 with a 2.05 ERA with 37 walks and 119 K’s. Kumar added on to his NCAA leading win total. He’s now 11-2 with a 2.45 ERA with 27 walks and 129 K’s.
Jack will most likely be opposed by Kentucky right hander Sean Harney, who is 3-1 with a 3.73 ERA, with 12 walks and 53 K’s. So another major night at the Hawk. 6:30 PM CT on SEC Network+. It truly feels like we’re now in the postseason. Couldn’t be more exciting. Will hit you back with recap tomorrow.
Have an awesome afternoon/evening.