Vanderbilt wins a wild Friday game over Alabama

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Anyone who walked away from Vanderbilt's 9-6 win over Alabama at Hawkins Field on Friday not knowing quite what to make of what he saw wasn't alone.

The Commodores (33-10, 15-7 Southeastern Conference) got a much-needed win to snap a season-long, three-game winning streak, and at no point was it uninteresting or unpredictable. It featured a lineup no one expected to see, four home runs--including the first of Enrique Bradfield's career--and a start from Kumar Rocker that was equal parts dominating and disastrous.

Bradfield was the offensive star, reaching base five times. Shortstop Carter Young also mashed two home runs, and Dominic Keegan added another for Vanderbilt.

Nick Maldonado pitched a scoreless 2 1/3 innings for his fourth save.

The Commodores ended the evening tied with Tennessee atop the SEC East standings.

Rocker (11-1) got the win with a bizarre five-inning, 13-strikeout, six-hit, five-walk, three-wild-pitch, six-run evening after firing 16 consecutive strikes to start the night. Alabama also swiped three bases off Rocker.

After Alabama ambushed Vanderbilt for three in the top of the third, the Commodores struck back with four in the bottom of the inning off Alabama starter Tyler Ras.

Bradfield singled in Troy LaNeve with Vandy's first run, and Young followed with a bomb to right to tie the game before Keegan's blast put Vandy ahead.

The Crimson Tide responded with three more in the fourth, and Vandy again plated four in the bottom of the inning to re-take the lead for good.

Bradfield's homer--a three-run job--was the big hit in that inning and then Young followed with a home run to left.

Alabama nearly re-took the lead in the fifth, as Rocker walked the bases loaded but escaped with an inning-ending strikeout to keep Alabama off the board.

From that point on, Luke Murphy (1 2/3 scoreless innings) and Maldonado kept Alabama off the scoreboard.

The teams play again on Saturday at Hawkins Field, with first pitch coming at 2 Central.

Rocker's outing was easily the most bizarre of his career, one so eventful that it was difficult to process as he looked both as dominant and as vulnerable as he's looked in his career within the same outing.

It's hard to look better than Rocker did coming out of the gate. Vandy's right-hander had a rare four-strikeout first inning, firing every one of his 13 pitches for strikes. That included a strikeout of William Hamiter, who reached base on a wild pitch.

Alabama third baseman Zane Denton fouled a ball off Rocker on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, the only time anyone made contact in that inning.

Rocker struck out the side in the second, that coming on 12 pitches. He didn't throw a ball until an the first pitch to No. 5 hitter Owen Diodati.

And then in the sixth, shortstop Jim Jarvis jumped on Rocker's first pitch and smacked it to center, where Bradfield was playing shallow. it bounced over his head and over the wall for a ground-rule double. Caden Rose laid a bunt down third and Rocker's throw wasn't in time. Peyton Wilson lined an RBI single and after another strikeout, Denton slammed a double to right for a 3-0 lead in the blink of an eye.

"He was probably trying to do a little too much, trying to be too perfect," coach Tim Corbin said, "and when that happens, you start missing and you refine a little too much and lose a little command. ... I'm always a little cautious when you see something like that--too soon, too quick--because you know the game's not just going to move in that direction. It's too difficult."

Rocker's fourth started with a walk, a T.J. Reeves RBI double off the big wall in left and then another walk to Jarvis. After a strikeout, Wilson hit a sacrifice fly and then a William Hamiter single scored a sixth run.

Rocker's fifth went this way: a pop-up to second, two walks, a strikeout on an 87-mile-an-hour slider, a walk and a strikeout on a 76-mile-an-hour changeup on his 110th (and last) pitch of the night.

Corbin was asked if he suspected Rocker had tipped his pitches.

"It always goes through your mind when you see good swings on good pitches, or on breaking pitches in cross counts and there's barrels, it goes through your mind," Corbin said.

Everyone in the ballpark was buzzing about Vandy's freshman center fielder on Friday, and for good reason: Bradfield stole the show with a homer, three singles, a walk, two runs, a career-high five RBIs and three stolen bases.

The homer was of the out-of-the-park variety, a blast that cleared the wall in right-center and shocked nearly everyone while also tying the game at six.

Bradfield's RBI single in the third was also smashed to right. The ability to hit the ball hard is another step in the freshman's rapidly-growing game.

So was his approach in the two at-bats after the home run as it would have been tempting for Bradfield to get fly-ball happy and try to repeat his fourth-inning feat.

Instead in In the sixth, Bradfield turned a 1-2 count into a single up the middle, and then again in the eighth, he pulled a 1-0 pitch through the right side.

Bradfield's three steals also added to his nation-leading total, which now stands at 37.

Afterwards, Corbin commented on how Bradfield's maturity and approach as a player led to a big night.

"I've seen at certain points in time that he plays with so much innocence that he plays with a lot of freedom," he said.

Starting right fielder Isaiah Thomas unexpectedly missed Friday's game with what Corbin termed a "hand injury." Left-handed-hitting Troy LaNeve replaced Thomas in right and went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored while hitting eighth.

Spencer Jones also started at DH, with Jack Bulger getting a rare night off. Jones, a lefty getting the nod against the right-handed Ras, was 2-for-4 with a run.

Max Romero would also be a possibility as a left-handed DH in a spot where Vanderbilt preferred that, but Corbin said Vandy's backup catcher is also dinged up.

That makes it difficult for C.J. Rodriguez to get a rest. Rodriguez spent his night trying to block errant Rocker sliders--Corbin said he blocked five with a runner at third alone--and Rodriguez also took a foul tip or two off his helmet.

Third baseman Jayson Gonzalez got the night off, with Parker Noland starting at third. Noland and Bradfield are the only Commodores to start every game.

Tate Kolwyck, who recently returned from injury, remained the starting second baseman. The junior was 0-for-4 but hit three balls hard, including a home run he just missed to center in the seventh.