Georgia throttles Vanderbilt to take series
NASHVILLE, Tenn.---The deciding game of Vanderbilt's series with Georgia started badly, took a big turn for the worse and ended on the same note as the visiting Bulldogs beat Vanderbilt, 9-1, at Hawkins Field on Saturday.
Georgia right-hander Jonathan Cannon stymied the Commodores, throwing seven shutout innings while striking out nine and walking no one. The Bulldogs' Connor Tate led an 11-hit attack, with the right fielder blasting a home run among his three hits and three RBIs.
The Commodores (25-5, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) lost their first series of the year, and fell a game behind Arkansas and Tennessee in the loss column in the SEC's overall standings.
And it was an ugly weekend at that, with Georgia out-scoring Vanderbilt, 25-8. The top of Vandy's order--Enrique Bradfield, Carter Young and Dominic Keegan--struggled all weekend, and went 3-for-12 with seven strikeouts on Saturday.
But the worst news for a team already reeling from injuries may be the potential loss of right-hander Sam Hliboki, who came on for Patrick Reilly in the fourth inning and left before the inning was over.
Hliboki entered with Vanderbilt down three, nobody on and nobody out in the fourth. He gave up a hard double to former Commodore Garrett Blaylock, then, struck out Parks Harber and Cheney Rogers on pitches of 80 and 79 miles an hour, respectively, according to the stadium gun.
Hliboki had a 1-1 count on Shane Marshall when Vanderbilt asked for time. After a mound conference, Hliboki threw one warmup pitch, briefly clutched the area near his right elbow and left the game.
Afterwards, Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said he'd seen the trainer, but did not know the status of Hliboki's health.
Georgia struck for the game's first run when Connor Tate led off with a single and came home on Harber's two-out single. Tate homered well into the bleachers in left-center off Reilly for a 3-0 lead, one that seemed almost insurmountable given the way Cannon was throwing.
"I just think his fastballl, and maybe getting caught in between with the fastball and the slider. … We just couldn’t center him at any point," Corbin said, when asked what Vandy's biggest problem with Cannon was. "You’ve got to give him credit. …. He went three times through everyone. … If you get seven innings and you’re able to go through the lineup three times, that’s a quality SEC start to say the least.
Cannon was terrific from start to finish, but the Commodores also blew some chances. Vanderbilt got the leadoff man on in the second and the first two guys on in the fifth, but failed to score. Vandy, which led the SEC in runs scored coming into the weekend, has scored just 13 runs the last four games, including a 5-4 win over Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday.
"The difference in the week, we never got a big hit except for last night. … If you take four games in 36 innings, that was the one inning. I really thought we’d hit better today," Corbin added.
Vanderbilt finally scored on a Young double off Jaden Woods in the eighth, but by that time the Bulldog lead was 6-1 and that was before Georgia added three more (two earned) off Miles Garrett in the ninth.
Reilly (3-1) took the loss. His day ended after his 56th pitch, which was Connor Tate's home run. Corbin said Reilly, who allowed just four runners in three innings, began to tire around his 50th pitch.
Vanderbilt plays Eastern Kentucky at 6:30 Central at Hawkins Field this Tuesday before hitting the road for a three-game series at Tennessee.