No. 24 Vanderbilt rallies past Sycamores in extra innings
No. 24 Vanderbilt took advantage of a pair of Indiana State errors in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Sycamores fell at Hawkins Field in extra-innings, 8-7.
Indiana State (23-17) loaded the bases in the top of the 10th inning and threatened to break the contest open, but a key defensive stop by Vanderbilt (32-15) first baseman Parker Noland kept the Sycamores off the scoreboard in the frame.
A pair of Sycamore errors led to Vanderbilt's Enrique Bradfield Jr. sitting on third base with two outs in the bottom of the 12th. VU's Spencer Jones came through in the clutch against ISU reliever Jared Spencer (1-3) with his sixth hit of the ball game bringing Bradfield home for the walk-off.
Josue Urdaneta drove in four RBI and homered for the Sycamores as Indiana State fell in extra innings for the first time in the 2022 season. Urdaneta homered in the first, added a two-run double off the left field wall in the second, and then connected on a run-scoring single in the top of the ninth to highlight the ISU offense.
Jake Ridgway went 5.0 innings in a masterful relief appearance on the mound for the Sycamores in support of starter Brennyn Cutts. Ridgway surrendered four hits and three runs while striking out five in his longest relief outing of the 2022 season. Spencer went the final 2.1 innings allowing three hits and one unearned run in taking the loss.
Jones went 6-for-6 from the plate to key a Vanderbilt offense, while Noland added a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth as the Commodores held off the Sycamores.
Thomas Schultz (3-1) was the final one out of the eight Vanderbilt pitchers on the mound for the Commodores going the final 0.2 innings to record the win.
How They Scored
Josue Urdaneta connected on the one-out solo home run to right field to put the Sycamores on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning.
Grant Magill singled home Sean Ross and Josue Urdaneta doubled off the left field wall scoring Jordan Schaffer and Magill to give the Sycamores the 4-0 lead in the top of the second.
Vanderbilt rallied back in the bottom of the fourth as the Commodores took advantage of a Davis Diaz solo home run to left and a Javier Vaz fielder's choice scoring Spencer Jones to cut the ISU lead down to 4-2.
Spencer Jones reached on a leadoff triple as the Sycamores lost the ball in the lights and came around to score on Dominic Keegan's groundout to shortstop as Vanderbilt cut the ISU lead down to 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth.
Josue Urdaneta connected on his fourth RBI of the game with a one-out single up the middle scoring Daunte Majors in the top of the ninth to make it a 5-3 Indiana State lead.
Randall Diaz added an RBI groundout scoring Schaffer, while Joe Kido's pinch-hit RBI single scored Urdaneta as the Sycamores took the 7-3 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Parker Noland connected on a two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the ninth to cut the Sycamores lead down to 7-5.
Spencer Jones added an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth and Enrique Bradfield Jr. stole home as Vanderbilt tied the game up at 7-7 to send the game into extra innings.
Jones came through with the RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning scoring Bradfield Jr. to close out the win.
News & Notes
Josue Urdaneta connected on his fifth home run of the 2022 season and first since March 20 against Kansas in the top of the first inning.
Jordan Schaffer was hit by a pitch in the top of the second inning giving him a Valley-leading 20 HBPs on the season.
Josue Urdaneta connected on his 19th multi-hit game following his home run in the first and RBI double in the second inning. He finished 3-for-6 for the evening.
Jordan Schaffer (twice), Sean Ross (twice), and Seth Gergely were all hit by pitches in the contest marking the second consecutive game at least three Sycamores were plunked in a game.
The five hit-by-pitches tied a season-high for Indiana State equaling the mark set back on February 25 against Merrimack.
Jake Ridgway went a season-best 5.0 innings on the mound in an extended relief appearance. The redshirt senior had only thrown 4.2 innings in relief in the 2022 season heading into the Vanderbilt game.
Indiana State's pitching staff hit double-digit strikeouts for the second consecutive game and third in the last four as the Sycamores combined to retire 11 Commodores on strikes.
Up Next
Indiana State closes out the road trip this weekend in Carbondale, Ill. as the Sycamores make the trip to Southern Illinois University for a three-game series running from May 13-15. The series opener on Friday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium is set for 4 p.m. ET and will be carried live on ESPNU and 105.5 The Legend.
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