June 15, 2015

College World Series Scores & Schedules

 

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."