Kendall Homer
Rallies Vandy past Fullerton
By Phil Stanton
CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder
@roadtoomaha
OMAHA,
Neb. - The
defending national champions don't want to give up the crown
yet.
Freshman Jeran Kendall belted
a two-run homer to cap a three-run rally in the bottom of the
ninth as Vanderbilt edged Cal State Fullerton 4-3 Monday
afternoon in Game 4 of the 2015 College World Series in front
of 21,674 fans at TD Ameritrade Park.
The Commodores (48-19) will
play No. 7 TCU on Tuesday, June 16 at 7 p.m. CT. The Titans
(39-24) will face second-seeded LSU on Tuesday at 2 p.m. CT in
an elimination contest.
Vandy trailed 3-1 heading
to its final at-bat. Zander Wiel ripped a leadoff double to
right center off Fullerton closer Tyler Peitzmeier to ignite
the rally. With one away, Bryan Reynolds doubled down the left
field line to drive in Wiel and make it a one-run contest.
Kendall was facing Peitzmeier
for the second time in the game. Kendall struck out against
the lefty to lead off the seventh. He smacked the second
offering to the bullpen in right to end the contest.
"I got some pretty good looks
my first at-bat," Kendall said, "even though my first at-bat
didn't end very well. But I saw some good looks on some balls
and got my reads and came up next at-bat with a clear mind."
It was an 0-1 pitch that
Kendall hit out.
"The first pitch was a
fastball," Peitzmeier said. "He got around on it pretty good.
And I went to the slider. It was a good slider. And he just
got a hold of it."
Peitzmeier (2.1 IP 3 H, 3
R, 3 K) fell to 5-4. He had 16 saves coming into the contest.
It was the first walk-off
homer at TD Ameritrade Park and first in the College World
Series since 2009.
The game began on Sunday
evening, but was halted due to weather with the Titans leading
3-0 in the bottom of the sixth behind All-American hurler
Thomas Eshelman (pictured above).
Eshelman was superb,
going 5.2 innings with four hits, no walks and eight
strikeouts.
When play was stopped on
Sunday, Rhett Wiseman stood on third and Wiel had a full
count. Chad Hockin took the mound to resume the game on Monday
and Wiel lined a double to right center to make it a 3-1
contest.
"I knew I was going to get one
pitch," Wiel said. "I was just trying to have a team at-bat
because we had Rhett on third and there was two outs. And
since we had the delay, I wanted to get the day started off
right. And I knew he was probably going to come with something
to hit. And he did. I was just trying to put a good swing on
it."
The Commodores were retired in
order in the seventh and eighth before its ninth-inning rally.
"I think it was a tale of two
different games," Vandy head coach Tim Corbin said. "I felt
last night was frustrating for the Vanderbilt side, obviously,
because of how Eshleman pitched and their ability to score
some runs on some walks and some big hits.
"Coming into today was a
re-set situation for us and we set it up that way. We knew
that it was going to be a different scenario on the mound. We
knew it was going to be a different attack and the kids
responded very well. We responded well on the mound to keep
the game at bay and just keep the margin where it was, but
outside of what Jeren did at the end, I just thought the
biggest play was Zander's first hit. I just think the ability
to come back the very next day, knowing it was a 3-2 count,
knowing he was going to get one pitch and just be centered
enough emotionally and mentally to put a good swing on the
ball, to me, was a huge, huge moment."
Fullerton broke the scoreless
tie in the top of the third. After Carson Fulmer retired the
first six hitters of the game, Timmy Richards drew a leadoff
walk. He moved to second on a balk, was sacrificed to third
and scored on a base hit by Taylor Bryant to give the Titans a
1-0 advantage.
Richards started another
scoring rally in the fifth. He drew a one-out walk and
advanced to third on a double by AJ Kennedy. Richards hustled
home on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. Jose Vargas had a two-out
single to right to drive in Kennedy and give the Titans a 3-0
lead.
Kendall finished with two hits
and two RBI. Wiel and Reynolds both went 2 for 4 with one run
and one RBI.
Fulmer went six innings with
four hits, three runs, two walks and seven strikeouts. John
Kilichowski (2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K) and Kyle Wright kept the
Titans off the scoreboard over the final three frames. Wright
(6-1) retired the final two hitters in the top of the ninth to
record the victory.
Vanderbilt became the first
team in 71 games to win a College World Series contest when
trailing after eight innings.
"That was a good baseball
game," Titans head coach Rick Vanderhook said. "I thought two
teams went toe to toe. We've been doing this for a couple of
weeks now. They've got a couple of pitches late in the game
and they hit them. And that last one went over the fence, and
give them credit, you gotta hit it to do it. And he hit it and
he hit it good."