In the program’s first trip to Nashville since 1907, the No. 4 Texas Longhorns delivered four big blows to the Vanderbilt Commodores, who needed three runs in the seventh inning to avoid a run-rule defeat, settling for an 11-4 loss on Friday at Hawkins Field.
For Texas, junior center fielder Aiden Robbins opened the scoring with a solo home run in the third inning and added a two-run shot in the fourth inning before five runs in the fifth blew the game open. Another two-run home run in the sixth finished
the scoring for the Horns.
In an impressive piece of hitting on the first home run, Robbins kept his hands in and turned on an inside fastball, lofting it over the 35-foot wall in left field.
To open the fourth inning, redshirt senior third baseman Temo Becerra led off with a single and advanced on a wild pitch before junior left fielder Ashton Larson drew a four-pitch walk and junior first baseman Casey Borba drove in Becerra with a sacrifice bunt.
On the first pitch that Robbins saw, he turned around an elevated fastball for a 406-foot home run with an exit velocity of 101 miles per hour, his sixth home run in the last seven games.
Texas continued the onslaught against Vanderbilt right-hander Connor Fennell in the worst outing of his season, stringing competitive at bats. Freshman right fielder Anthony Pack Jr. led off with a single and stole second, scoring on a single to right center by sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez, who yanked a 1-2 breaking ball into the gap.
After Rodriguez got caught stealing, junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza singled to left field and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Becerra. Larson drew another walk and Mendoza scored on a first-pitch single by Borba.
After narrowly missed a pull-side home run to the warning track in the fourth, graduate designated hitter Josh Livingston fully connected on an 0-0 pitch down and in, turning on and it sending it well out of Hawkins Park, traveling 380 feet at 108 miles per hour off the Wichita State transfer’s bat to close out the five-run frame.
In the sixth, Rodriguez followed a double by Pack with his first home run in almost a year and 177 at bats, flashing the power that was sapped by his hand injury and subsequent complications from the staple inserted last fall.
With an exit velocity of 103 mph, the homer by Rodriguez was launched 413 feet at 31 degrees.
Receiving a second straight Friday start, Texas sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis was dominant once again, carving up the powerful Vanderbilt lineup to strike out 11 over 6.0 innings while allowing one run on four hits for his sixth win of the season.
With a chance to slam the door shut on the Commodores and avoid two extra innings of work out of the bullpen, the Longhorns were unable to accomplish that task.
When head coach Jim Schlossnagle turned to senior right-hander Max Grubbs, he wasn’t able to work down in the zone, giving up a leadoff double after getting ahead 1-2 and then seeing his first pitch to the next batter launched into the left-field stands.
After getting an out, Grubbs hung a breaking ball that turned into another home run and then gave up a two-out walk before departing in favor of freshman right-hander Brody Walls, who allowed a 3-1 single against the only batter that he faced. Redshirt junior left-hander Ethan Walker only faced one batter, too, giving up a full-count walk. Finally able to get out of the inning, junior right-hander Thomas Burns only needed three pitches to record a strikeout.
In a notable decision, Schlossnagle turned to freshman right-hander Sam Cozart, his ascendant closer, to record the final six out, a task the 6’6, 260-pounder accomplished in perfect fashion with three strikeouts over 25 pitches.
Texas goes for the series victory on Saturday at 7 p.m. Central on SEC Network.
