Cold Opening Day in Nashville, No. 15 Vanderbilt Baseball Freezes Air Force Bats

No. 15 Vanderbilt baseball (3-1) returned home on Monday after opening the season at the 2025 MLB Invitational. The Commodores defeated Air Force (0-4) 3-1 in the 2025 home opener on a cold day in Nashville behind strong pitching and defensive efforts.

Vanderbilt mustered the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth inning after third baseman Rustan Rigdon managed a two-out single. Rigdon stole second and advanced to third on a Jacob Humphrey single and then ultimately scored after Air Force starting pitcher Bowen Brantingham balked. Brantingham pitched 4.2 innings and allowed four hits, four walks and two balks, but struck out five batters and only gave up a single run as he stranded five Commodore base runners.

The Commodores doubled their lead in the bottom of the seventh inning after first baseman Riley Nelson was walked and third baseman Colin Barczi hit a two-out triple to bring him in for insurance and his third RBI of the young season. Backup right fielder JD Rogers hit a solo home run to open the eighth inning to take the lead to 3-0 to pile onto the Vanderbilt lead.

Vanderbilt's pitching staff shouldered most of the load for the 'Dores third win of the season. Starting pitcher Austin Nye went three innings and struck out five batters allowing just one hit and three walks. The Falcons loaded the bases in the top of the second inning, but Nye responded by striking out Cam Antsey to get out of the jam and end the scoring threat.

Sophomore Connor Fennell got the first call from the bullpen and went 2.1 innings, striking out five batters and giving up three walks and one hit. Sophomore Luke Guth took the rubber in the middle of the sixth inning and kept the lid on the Air Force offense. Guth went 2.2 innings, striking out three and allowing three hits before passing the ball to Alex Kranzler for the ninth.

Kranzler allowed Air Force to strike back for one run as Ben Niednagel singled in a run, but that was all the Falcons could muster as the sophomore finished with and two ground outs to end the game.

Star left fielder RJ Austin's had a strong start to the season at the plate but his defensive prowess made the highlight reel on Monday as Austin gunned down the tying run from the outfield in the top of the sixth inning to keep the Commodores ahead by one.

Don't run on RJ 🎯 pic.twitter.com/P6i1X41buC
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) February 18, 2025

The Commodores take on the Air Force Falcons in game two of their two-game series on Tuesday at 1 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on SEC Network + and heard on 94.9 The Fan.

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