Over the past four seasons, the Vanderbilt Commodores have had some painful NCAA Tournament losses, but Sunday’s probably stung the most.
In the Nashville Regional at Hawkins Field, the Wright State Raiders upset the Commodores, 5-4. With the loss, Vanderbilt is the first No. 1 seed to not make it to the regional final of the NCAA Tournament since the 64-team bracket was adopted in 1999.
A slow start doomed the Commodores. In the bottom of the first inning, Vanderbilt freshman starting pitcher Austin Nye allowed four runs, including two homers.
Offensive struggles made matters worse for the Commodores. They only scored one run through their first eight innings (a home run from freshman infielder Brodie Johnston). Meanwhile, Wright State sophomore infielder Gus Gregory had another RBI on a single to left center field in the bottom of the third inning.
Vanderbilt rallied in the top of the ninth inning. Junior infielder Mike Mancini drove in Johnston and sophomore catcher Colin Barczi on a single to center field. Senior infielder Jonathan Vastine then scored off a ground rule double from freshman infielder Rustan Rigdon.
The comeback attempt, however, proved futile. After Rigdon’s base hit, junior utility man RJ Austin flew out to right field for the final out of the game.
