Vanderbilt Baseball Scores Early and Often Run Ruling Tennessee to Advance to SEC Championship Game
HOOVER, Ala. -- Vanderbilt baseball extended its winning streak to seven games by decimating the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC Tournament. The Commodores mowed down Tennessee's batters and were relentless on offense to secure its third win this year over the Volunteers 10-0.
"Well, we played well," Commodores head coach Tim Corbin said. "Obviously, it was pretty complete in terms of pitching, defense and offense, hit the ball back up the middle, on a day where the field was going to play large. Cody [Bowker], obviously, got us off to a good start. Once he got through the first two hitters, he really settled in. His fastball was crisp. It looked like it was spinning well, at least from our vantage point, and used good attack on the hitters. Connor [Fennell] came in and gave us three good innings, as well, played good outfield defense. But we were just able to get on base and move and played a good game, take care of the baseball."
Vanderbilt starting pitcher Cody Bowker had a small hiccup to open the game, walking Tennessee's first two batters in the first inning, but responded by striking out six batters in a row to get in a grove. Bowker ended up dealing for four innings, striking out nine batters, giving up no runs on three hits and the two opening-inning walks.
The Commodores offense picked up where it left off on Thursday, scoring runs in four of the six offensive innings to bury the Volunteers.
Vanderbilt freshman leadoff man Rustan Rigdon led the way at the plate, drawing a walk, finding three base hits for two RBIs, and scoring two runs of his own. Riley Nelson and Mike Mancini each chipped in with two hits and two RBIs apiece as the Commodores mustered 13 total hits on the day.
The Commodores made Tennessee utilize five different pitchers across the six innings and impressively scored all 10 runs without finding a single extra base hit. Vanderbilt drew two walks, converted two stolen bases and ran on three Tennessee wild pitches to keep the offensive pressure on throughout the entire game.
Tim Corbin tapped Connor Fennell to replace Bowker in the fifth inning and the sophomore kept the dominance going from the mound. Fennell dominated for three innings of his own, allowing Tennessee a single hit, striking out two batters, and walking one as he worked quickly from the mound.
The Commodores will take on the winner of Saturday's Ole Miss-LSU game in the SEC Championship Game on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.
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Joe Gaither oversees videos and podcasts for Alabama Crimson Tide On SI/BamaCentral. He began his sports media career in radio in 2019, working for three years in Tuscaloosa covering the University of Alabama and other local high school sports. In 2023 he joined BamaCentral to cover a variety of Crimson Tide sports and recruiting, in addition to hosting the “Joe Gaither Show” podcast. His work has also appeared on the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt web sites.