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Leiter's seven no-hit innings help Vandy past Missouri

Jack Leiter pitched seven innings and struck out 10 as Vanderbilt one-hit Missouri, 11-3,. at Taylor Stadium in Columbia, Mo., on Friday night.

Vanderbilt's Jack Leiter.
Vanderbilt's Jack Leiter. (Vanderbilt athletics)
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Leiter, who threw a 124-pitch no-hitter last week, came out after his 101st pitch, which was a strikeout of Missouri's Luke Mann.

Chris McElwain pitched a shutout inning before yielding way to Nelson Berkwich. Missouri's Tre Morris lined a single to right with two outs in the ninth, ruining Vandy's chances of a second-straight no-hitter.

C.J. Rodriguez and Dominic Keegan both homered for the Commodores (18-3, 4-1 Southeastern Conference). Keegan, Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Jack Bulger each had three hits.

Unlike last week, when Leiter dominated South Carolina in a complete-game no-hitter, Leiter showcased his secondary pitches more in this one.

“It felt similar (to last week) to start off," Leiter said. ."In this one, I found my secondary pitches a lot quicker. … I’m sure the velocity might have been a tiny bit better last week."

With the pitch count piling up, coach Tim Corbin seemed to indicate that it was an easy call not to bring Leiter out for the eighth.

"There’s not much conversation with (Leiter), there’s just a conversation with (pitching coach Scott Brown) trying to preserve the arm, knowing it’s a long season and there’s a long way to go. … It wasn’t much of a thought," Corbin said. "We knew where it was and we knew what we wanted to do.”

The easygoing Leiter didn't fight the decision.

“I had no idea how many pitches I’d thrown. … I wasn’t going to argue. I knew coach Brown was going to make the right call.”.

Leiter walked CJ Cepicky in the third and Cameron Swanger in the fifth, the only two runners he allowed. The closest the Tigers came to a hit against him was when Mike Coletta lined hard to left, where Cooper Davis made a nice, sliding catch.

In the seventh, Leiter got Brandt Belk to ground out to start the inning, a pop-up from Chad McDaniel for the second out and then blew a fastball past Mann on an 0-2 pitch to end his evening.

Corbin said the fact that Leiter threw a no-hitter last week wasn't much of a factor in pulling him earlier this time.

“I don’t know that we were really thinking that way. … The short rest, where he was, what he needs to do going forward, that’s really the deciding factor more than anything else,” Corbin said

McElvain picked up where Leiter left off, striking out Swanger and then Cepicky before walking Trevor Austin and then fanning Coletta to end the eighth.

In the ninth, Berkwich fanned pinch hitter Clayton Peterson, and then got pinch-hitter Alex Peterson to ground out.

An error later, Missouri's Torin Montgomery smacked a three-run home run, making all three runs charged to Berkwich unearned.

Unlike last week, when Leiter had a slim 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, the offense removed some of the drama from the equation early, scoring seven in the first two innings.

Bradfield bounced a double off the left field wall to start the game and after Keegan walked, both came around on Bulger’s double to right.

One batter later, Rodriguez blasted a home run to deep left.

Bulger added another RBI double in the second before Keegan followed with his solo shot.

Leiter walked Cepicky in the third, snapping a string of 33 consecutive batters that he’d retired.

The last hits Leiter gave up came in the fifth inning against Oklahoma State two Saturdays ago. The right-handed got three outs in a row after those, then exitied after that frame.

Vanderbilt has taken the first two games of the series. The teams play again at 5 Central on Saturday.

Scoring summary

VU 1: Bulger double scored Bradfield and Keegan. VU, 2-0

VU 1: Rodriguez home run scored Bulger. VU, 4-0

VU 2: Young double scored Bradfield. VU, 5-0

VU 2: Bulger double scored Young; Keegan scored on error. VU, 7-0

VU 5: Keegan home run. VU, 8-0

VU 5: Thomas sacrifice fly to center scored Bulger. VU, 9-0

VU 7: Young double scored Thomas, Bradfield. VU, 11-0

UM 9: Montgomery home run scored Morris, McDaniel. VU, 11-3

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