Offensive outburst helps Vandy by Auburn in opener
A Stephen Scott home run, a 12-hit offensive outburst and some help from the Auburn defense helped Vanderbilt (32-9, 13-6 Southeastern Conference) to a 12-6 win over Auburn at Nashville’s Hawkins Field on Thursday night.
Third baseman Austin Martin added three hits and three RBIs, scoring twice to lead the offense.
Starter Drake Fellows went five innings, allowing four runs while improving to 9-0. Mason Hickman threw the last four innings, giving up two runs and fanning six in earning his third save.
From the second inning on, the rain made it difficult for both teams.
After Scott’s home run, center fielder Pat DeMarco popped up near the mound and nobody fielded it. He later scored on a wild pitch, and Martin added a third run on a sacrifice fly.
Fellows then got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the bottom of the inning generated by first baseman Julian Infante’s error and a pair of hit batsmen. But a 1-2-3 double play and a strikeout of Edouard Julien kept AU off the board.
Auburn starter Tanner Burns then gave up a single to catcher Philip Clarke to start the third. After second baseman Harrison Ray bunted Clarke over, Burns removed himself due to an apparent injury after throwing a pair of balls to Scott.
Umpires suspended the game for 47 minutes, during which Tiger coach Butch Thompson was ejected.
Reliever Elliott Anderson nearly got Auburn out of a two-on, two-out jam when Infante popped up in foul territory.
But the ball clanked off catcher Matt Scheffler’s mitt. Infante later singled through third to drive in two. Martin’s line-drive single to right scored another.
Auburn responded with four runs off a tiring Fellows in the fifth, then, got a homer from shortstop Will Holland off Hickman in the sixth, to get within two.
But Martin came back with a line-drive single to left to score Infante in the top of the inning. Shortstop Ethan Paul doubled to deep center later in the inning for another.
Key takeaways
The umpires erred in letting the game go so long.
Let’s hope Auburn’s Burns, one of the conference’s best pitchers and a potential first-rounder in 2020, is okay. Thompson gave the umpiring crew an earful later, and deservedly so.
I don’t know how much the rain had to do with the Burns injury. But it was obvious that playing through a downpour was a safety hazard.
Players were drenched well before the game was halted. Fellows clearly had trouble with the wet ball, and had a wild pitch slip out of his hand in addition to the two he hit.
Despite that, the umpires not only let the game continue until the Burns injury, but they let the teams play through another hard rain later.
I get that TV is involved, and that delaying the game causes another set of pitching issues. But this was proof it’s not worth this particular risk, and hopefully the league learns from this.
The pitching complexion of the series has already changed somewhat.
Burns’s injury forced Auburn to burn Anderson, the Tigers second-most-oft-used reliever in league play behind Cody Greenhill, with 73 pitches.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt may be without ace closer Tyler Brown, who went home to Ohio to deal with a medical situation with his daughter. It’s unclear whether he’ll be back this weekend.
Hickman also threw 73 pitches.
No Davis, again
Starting outfielder Cooper Davis, who exited early in Game 2 of the Arkansas series two weeks ago, still hasn’t played since then due to a leg injury.
Scoring summary
V2: Scott home run off Burns. V, 1-0
V2: DeMarco scored on wild pitch. V, 2-0
V2: Martin sacrifice fly to right scored Duvall. V, 3-0
V3: Infante single through third scored Scott, Clarke. V, 5-0
V3: Martin single to right scored Duvall. V, 6-0
V3: Scheffler throwing error on Martin steal scored Infante. V, 7-0
A5: Ward ground-rule double to right-center off Fellows scored Williams. V, 7-1
A5: Bliss single up the middle off Fellows scored Ward, Holland. V, 7-3
A5: Scheffler double to left off Fellows scored Bliss. V, 7-4
A6: Holland home run to left off Hickman. V, 7-5
V6: Martin single to left scored Infante. V, 8-5
V6: Paul double to deep left-center scored Martin. V, 9-5
V6: Ray ground-out scored Paul. V, 10-5
V7: DeMarco single to center scored Ray. V, 11-5
V7: Martin scored after Clarke reached on error. V, 12-5
A9: Scheffler single up the middle off Hickman scored Ward. V, 12-6
