Baseball battles before succumbing to late run by Vandy

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NASHVILLE, Tenn.– The Morehead State baseball team hung with the No. 7 team in the country for most of the night, but in the end the Vanderbilt Commodores used a late scoring flurry to pull away from the Eagles and win 6-0 at Hawkins Field Tuesday.
 
Vandy (38-15) scored twice in the seventh and three times in the eighth to break open a 1-0 pitcher's duel. MSU fell to 30-23 on the year.
 
"We pitched very well for six innings, and we had several guys who had '0-for' nights but I thought had a lot of quality at-bats. All-in-all I am never truly pleased with a defeat, but there were a lot of positives to come out of the game tonight," said head coach Mike McGuire.
 
The Eagles had five runners in scoring position on the night, but Vanderbilt turned a pair of double plays to end two of those threats.
 
The hosts scored their first run in the fifth after getting a walk and a fluke stolen base where the throw beat the runner, but the MSU fielder slipped and allowed the ball to sail into centerfield and the runner to go to third base. A single that centerfielder Ryan Kent nearly dove and caught then scored the 'Dore's first run.
 
Vanderbilt opened the seventh with back-to-back extra-base hits, and both of those runners eventually scored. The hosts tacked on their fourth, fifth and sixth runs after getting a walk and hit-by-pitch to start the eighth.
 
MSU starter Curtis Wilson was lifted after 2.2 innings but only allowed three hits. Senior reliever Craig Pearcy was saddled with the loss despite only giving up two hits and one run in 2.1 innings.
 
"Curtis and Craig pitched very well," said McGuire. "We had chances and couldn't get them any run support. But we were facing some quality arms with velocities consistently in the 90s tonight."
 
Vandy designated hitter Liam Sabino finished 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Ethan Paul and Jaren Kendall had two hits each.
 
Morehead State totaled six hits off three hurlers. Reliever Connor Snider grabbed the win after starter Matt McGarry did not go the required five frames to get a decision. Donny Everett picked up a two-inning save.

One Eagle did establish a record tonight as junior Cable Wright pitched in the game for his 85th career appearance. That broke the previous MSU career mark of 84 held by Troy Young from 1995-98.
 
Six different players had the hits for MSU. Kent extended his reached-base streak to 19 games. Junior rightfielder Will Schneider was his 16-game hitting streak snapped.
 
MSU opens the final OVC series at Murray State on Thursday. The scheduled start time is 7 p.m. ET.