Vanderbilt Commodores

Live Blog: 2025 Battle of the Barrel, Vanderbilt at Louisville

The Commodores and Cardinals meet for their annual baseball rivalry game Tuesday night in Louisville, Ky. with more than just a trophy on the line.
Taylor Hodges|
No. 11 Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin talks with his players during a practice session ahead of Tuesday night's game against No. 20 Louisville.
No. 11 Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin talks with his players during a practice session ahead of Tuesday night's game against No. 20 Louisville. | Vanderbilt Athletics

The 2025 Battle for the Barrel is underway between No. 11 Vanderbilt and No. 20 Louisville and there's plenty more on the line for both teams besides a barrel-shaped trophy.

Follow along below for live updates, reactions and analysis of the 2025 Battle of the Barrel between Vanderbilt and Louisville.

FINAL: No. 20 Louisville 5, No. 11 Vanderbilt 4

(Most recent updates at the top.)

9th Inning

T9: Louisville has implemented the pitching strategy I expected. They've used eight pitchers (only three working longer than one inning) and brought in a fresh arm, Jake Schweitzer, to get the last three outs.

The freshman right-handed pitcher gets a strikeout to start the inning, followed by a Rustan Rigdon groundout and ends with a RJ Austin flyout to centerfield and Louisville gets the barrel. Louisville 5, Vanderbilt 4

8th Inning

B8: England Bryan, the Commodores' fourth pitcher, gives up a single and a walk, but no runs and Vanderbilt needs to recreate its Sunday performance and score at least one run in the next three outs. Louisville 5, Vanderbilt 4

T8: And now the Commodores have just three outs left to get one run after back-to-back-to-back strikeouts. Vanderbilt will have its 9-1-2 hitters at the plate in the ninth inning. Louisville 5, Vanderbilt 4

7th Inning

B7: Luke Guth comes back on the mound in the 7th inning and exactly what Vanderbilt needed: a three-up, three-down inning. The Commodores now have six outs to score at least one run. Louisville 5, Vanderbilt 4

T7: The Commodores close the gap thanks to some successful small-ball tactics (four stolen bases in the inning). Mike Mancini gets a leadoff single and steals second, Rustan Rigdon draws a walk and Mancini scores a run on Rigdon's successful stolen base attempt during RJ Austin's at-bat. Riley Nelson would drive in Rigdon to bring the Commodores within one run. Louisville 5, Vanderbilt 4

6th Inning

B6: Hopefully, Vanderbilt has another multi-run comeback in the tank because they'll need it.

Ethan McElvain relieves Austin Nye to start the inning and gets just two outs before being relieved himself. McElvain gave up three runs on three hits, one walk and two strikeouts in seven at-bats. It wasn't all his fault. Brodie Johnston gets his seven error of the season, this one especially costly because it came on a two-out ground ball that allowed a run to score. He makes up for it with a perfect throw to end the inning, though. Louisville 5, Vanderbilt 2

T6: In the middle of JD Thompson's in-game interview with the ACC Network broadcast announcers, Brodie Johnston hits a game-tying solo home run and that is the type of moment that makes these types of interviews worthwhile. Vanderbilt 2, Louisville 2

5th Inning

B5: The Cardinals get a couple runners on base via fielder's choice and a walk, but no damage is done. Louisville 2, Vanderbilt 1

T5: Louisville may use a different pitcher each inning and they've brought out Ty Starke, a 6-6 left-handed side-arm (almost borderline submarine-style) throwing motion. That unique motion delivers a three up, three down inning for the Cardinals. Louisville 2, Vanderbilt 1

4th Inning

B4: So, big picture, everything is fine. This game? Eh, no need to hit the panic button, but after Louisville gets two runners in scoring position and takes the lead, Vanderbilt really needs its offense to come through. Louisville 2, Vanderbilt 1

T4: Louisville makes another pitching change that results in a leadoff single, but then three-straight outs by the Commodores. Vanderbilt 1, Louisville 1

3rd Inning

B3: Nye will need his offense to come through after the Cardinals tied the game on a one-out right field single. He gets a third strikeout to end the inning and we'll get the 6-7-8 hitters for Vanderbilt next. Vanderbilt 1, Louisville 1

T3: Austin Nye's performance may be great, but Vanderbilt's offense is...well...playing like we're used to seeing it play. It's still early though and a 1-0 lead isn't nothing. Vanderbilt 1, Louisville 0

2nd Inning

B2: Austin Nye gives up a leadoff walk, but then gets a fly, another runner caught stealing and his second strikeout. Vanderbilt 1, Louisville 0

T2: Well, Louisville pitchers definitely will have a short leash tonight. Hartman hit a batter and gave up a walk to load the bases and was relieved by West, who struck out RJ Austin on a full count, bases loaded count to end the inning without allowing a run. Vanderbilt 1, Louisville 0

1st Inning

B1: Austin Nye's first half inning against a ranked team was a successful one. He hit two batters with pitches, but also got a strikeout without allowing a runner to reach second base (caught stealing). Vanderbilt 1, Louisville 0

T1: Based solely on the stats Louisville's starting pitcher has, I expected a bullpen-like game from the Cardinals against Vanderbilt. Sure enough, Louisville has two pitchers warming up in the bullpen.

Louisville starting pitcher Colton Hartman gives up a leadoff walk to start and then a one-out double to Riley Nelson, putting two runners in scoring position. A wild pitch allows Rustan Rigdon to score from third and Nelson advances to third.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Louisville bring out a new pitcher each inning, or at least not allow Vanderbilt batter see a pitcher more than once. Vanderbilt 1, Louisville 0

Pregame

Taylor Hodges: Big game tonight for Vanderbilt.

A win likely locks up their status as a NCAA Regional host, even with a series against No. 15 Tennessee coming up this weekend.

Outside of that, its a big night for freshman pitcher Austin Nye. The right-handed pitcher is facing his first ranked team tonight. It'll be interesting to see how he performs and if he's capable of being a fourth starter for the Commodores in the SEC and NCAA tournaments.

First pitch is coming up soon.

Vanderbilt Commodores Starting Lineup

  1. Rustan Rigdon, LF
  2. RJ Austin CF
  3. Riley Nelson, 1B
  4. Brodie Johnston, 3B
  5. Braden Holcomb, RF
  6. Colin Barczi, C
  7. Jonathan Vastine, SS
  8. Chris Maldonado, DH
  9. Mike Mancini, 2B

Louisville Cardinals Starting Lineup

  1. Lucas Moore, CF
  2. Alex Alicea, SS
  3. Zion Rose, LF
  4. Jake Munroe, 3B
  5. Eddie King Jr., DH
  6. Tague Davis, 1B
  7. Michael Lippe, RF
  8. George Baker, C
  9. Kamau Neighbors, 2B

Pitching Matchup

RHP Austin Nye (2-0, 1.83 ERA, 39.1 IP, 46 SO, 16 BB, 8 ER, .209 b/avg.) vs. LHP Colton Hartman (1-0, 10.66 ERA, 12.2 IP, 17 SO, 12 BB, 15 ER, 2.53 WHIP)

How to Watch

TV: ACC Network

Radio: Live Radio

Stats: Live Stats

Vanderbilt Commodores On SI:

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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