Scott's two homers help Vandy slip past Vols on Friday
Stephen Scott hit a pair of home runs to help give Vanderbilt a five-run lead, and the Commodores hung on for dear life from there for a 7-6 victory over Tennessee at Lindsey Scott Field in Knoxville, Tenn., on Friday night.
Scott also reached twice on walks and scored three runs, shortstop Connor Kaiser homered, scored twice, and knocked in two runs, and Pat DeMarco added two hits and two RBIs for VU (26-23, 12-13 Southeastern Conference).
It snapped a six-game losing streak, a four-game skid in the SEC, and a string of six-straight Game 1 losses in conference series.
Drake Fellows picked up the win, and Chandler Day, his first save.
For six-and-a-half innings, everything seemed pretty easy for the Commodores.
From that point on, nothing was easy for Vanderbilt.
Fellows had thrown 77 pitches coming into the seventh, and had given up just four baserunners, two of which scored in the fifth, one coming on an Andre Lipcius homer to lead off that inning.
But Fellows, who had neither walked nor hit a batter going into that frame, lost his command quickly and walked leadoff man Pete Derkay on a 3-2 pitch to lead off the inning. Lipcius followed with a line-drive out to center on a 2-1 offering, then, Fellows walked Evan Russell on a 3-1 pitch before striking out Brodie Leftridge on three consecutive sliders.
A Nico Mascia single to left on a 2-1 pitch loaded the bases. Then, catcher Benito Santiago homered to right on a 3-1 count on Fellows' 105th pitch to bring the Vols to within a run.
Fellows struck out Brandon Chinea on three pitches to end the seventh, and Vanderbilt brought Day on for the eighth.
That, too, had plenty of drama.
Day walked the first two hitters he faced, then struck out Dekray on three pitches. Lipcius hit a line drive headed for left, but third baseman Jayson Gonzalez snagged it in the air, and easily doubled a man off second.
In the ninth, Day struck out Russell looking to start the ninth, then, got Brodie Leftridge to ground to short. A walk and a wild pitch put a man on second, then, Day ran the count to 3-1 on Santiago.
But a swinging strike on a slider, followed by a pitch in the dirt that Santiago chased, ended the evening.
Vanderbilt didn't get going until the third. Scott hit a homer off the scoreboard in right, Kaiser doubled, Gonzalez walked, and Austin Martin singled up the middle for a 2-0 lead. With two outs, DeMarco's single made it a three-run cushion.
With two out in the fourth, Scott was hit by a pitch and then scored from first on Kaiser's opposite-field double to right-center.
In the sixth, Scott homered off the batter's eye in center with nobody on. Kaiser then followed with an opposite-field homer that just cleared the 320-foot wall in right.
The Commodores had no clue how much they'd need it, but an insurance run in the seventh proved huge. Ethan Paul walked, stole second, took third on Philip Clarke's fly ball to deep center, then scored on a DeMarco single for a 7-2 lead.
The teams play again Saturday at 5 Central, a game that can be seen only on WatchESPN.com.
NOTES
J.J. Bleday played in his first conference game since March 25. He was 0-for-1, but was hit by two pitches and walked twice.
Kaiser started at short. He'd missed the previous three contests with back spasms.
Harrison Ray started in center, where he's started three of the past four.
Martin started at first.
Tennessee left just two men on base.
Vanderbilt turned two double plays.