NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt baseball walked off Tennessee baseball for the third straight game to sweep the weekend series in Nashville.
Vanderbilt used a 10th-inning base-hit to walk off Tennessee Friday before a bases-loaded squeeze bunt in the 16th inning Saturday won it for the Commodores, 6-5.
Unlike games one and two of the series, Sunday’s affair featured plenty of offense. Tennessee tallied 16 hits with Vanderbilt racking up 13.
The Vols strength has been pitching and defense, but neither were Sunday. Nic Abraham steadied the game from the fourth inning until the ninth after Tennessee starter Evan Blanco gave up nine runs (six earned) in three innings.
Instead, Tennessee’s strength was the offense against poor Vanderbilt pitching as the Commodores had to go deep into an already shaky bullpen.
Three Vols tallied three hits, five tallied multiple and Tennessee drew eight walks.
A three-run ninth inning put Tennessee in a great position to salvage the series, but Abraham lost command and loaded the bases before Mark Hindy gave up a two-run single. Brayden Krenzel then entered the game and hit a batter before giving up the devastating walk-off grand slam to pinch-hitter Tommy Goodin.
Here’s three takeaways from the defeat.
Brayden Krenzel, Mark Hindy Falter
Sophomore righty Nic Abraham had a career-best outing Sunday, pitching 5.1 innings on 87 pitches. Abraham had a shaky first inning that led to Vandy scoring via an RBI groundout but was dominant until the ninth.
“Just changing speeds and keeping the ball down,” Tennessee head coach Josh Elander said on what made Abraham so effective. “The way the ball flew all day long, that’s what we needed to do, and he did a good job of that. Just kind of ran out of gas there late.”
Abraham has never sniffed 87 pitches, so he was likely gassed out as he lost command in the final frame, giving up a single and two walks to load the bases.
Enter Duke transfer senior LHP Mark Hindy, who was brought to Tennessee to come through in jams.
But Hindy allowed a two-run single against Mack Whitcomb, spelling the end for his short outing.
Sophomore Brayden Krenzel relieved Hindy, who has been one of Tennessee’s most trusted bullpen arms. Krenzel has had highs and lows this year, but the lows have come more recently.
The trend continued as he hit his first batter before giving up a walk-off grand slam to pinch-hitter Tommy Goodin.
“It’s a gutting, gutting game,” Elander said. “Tough, tough weekend. And our guys just need to get back off the mat. There’s plenty of conference play left, and we can talk about being in these games, but you got a five-run lead in the ninth – you got to attack the strike zone and go do it.”
Krenzel and Hindy were meant to get big outs for Tennessee this year. Both must be better as UT needs other bullpen arms to rely on aside from Cam Appenzeller, Tegan Kuhns and Bo Rhudy.
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Trent Grindlinger Stays Hot, Blaine Brown Rebounds
With DH Stone Lawless exiting the game with a facial injury in the third, freshman Trent Grindlinger received every DH at-bat for the remainder of the contest.
Grindlinger made the most of his opportunities, going 3-4 at the plate with 5 RBI, including a pair of two-run singles and an RBI single late.
Grindlinger is now hitting .500 on the season with 24 at-bats, has 9 RBI and walked twice. Tennessee head coach Josh Elander said after the game Grindlinger has earned more opportunities.
Left-fielder Blaine Brown joined Grindlinger in recording three hits on the day. The performance was crucial for Brown who was 0-14 in his last three SEC games entering Sunday.
Brown hit a three-run homer in the second inning to tie the game 4-4. He later poked a double down the left-field line in a great piece of opposite-field hitting in the fourth, and singled in the fifth.
Evan Blanco, Defense With Rare Dud
Tennessee starter Evan Blanco was not himself Sunday. The Virginia transfer gave up two homers in the first inning as Vanderbilt took an early 4-1 lead.
Blanco never found a groove throughout his 3.0-inning outing – his shortest of the season – but defensive mistakes behind him compounded the issue.
After a 1-2-3 second inning for Blanco, Henry Ford was unable to haul in a pop up in the infield to put the leadoff man at second in the third.
Ford then pumped to second on a ground ball sent his way with one out, but no runner was coming or going back to the base. The wasted time allowed the runner to reach on what should have been a routine 5-3 putout.
Manny Marin did something similar after Logan Johnstone’s RBI single made 6-5, Tennessee. Marin fielded a ground ball to short but spent too much time looking at the runner rounding third, seeing if he was looking to go home. The runner was not and stayed at third safely, while the delay caused Rustan Rigdon to reach on what should have been a 6-3 putout.
A two-run single, RBI sac bunt and RBI single followed, giving the Commodores a five-spot in the third.
Blanco’s outing ended after three frames. The senior gave up nine runs, six earned, on eight hits while walking one and striking out two. He threw 40 strikes on 62 pitches.
“Just getting the ball in the air,” Elander said on what was different for Blanco. “The ball was really, really carrying and missing with the off-speed pitches. He wasn’t as crisp all around. He gave us enough to give us a chance to stay in the game. But Abraham was the story of the day. Doing really, really well.”
Up Next
Tennessee will aim to bounce back after the devastating sweep when it hosts Austin Peay Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET.
