Vanderbilt Baseball’s Series Opener Against Missouri Suspended – Sports Illustrated

Vanderbilt and Missouri will finish their chaotic first game of the series Saturday afternoon as the game Friday night was suspended.
The game was suspended in the top of the ninth due to minimal visibility caused by fog in Columbia, Missouri. The chaos of the night started in the bottom of the eighth inning after Missouri stormed back down 6-1 to take a 7-6 lead going into the ninth inning.
Vanderbilt was down to its last strike in the ninth with a runner on base, but Brodie Johnston drew a walk to keep Vanderbilt alive. Then, after a 0-1 count, Braden Holcomb drove a pitch deep into right field amidst the fog. Because the fog made it impossible to see, there was a long conversation between the umpires and head coaches of both teams on where the ball landed.
Though Holcomb ran around the bases for what could have been a three-run home run, the umpires concluded their discussion and called Holcomb’s hit a ground rule double, tying the game at 7-7. It was at that point the umpired decided to suspend the game until 4 p.m. Saturday.
So, Vanderbilt and Missouri will finish the series opener Saturday afternoon in the top of the ninth inning. The score will be 7-7 and Vanderbilt will have runners on second and third base with two outs.
Then, the two teams will jump into the second game of the series shortly after the conclusion of the first game.
Vanderbilt looked as if it was going to cruise to a series-opening victory well before the fog arrived on the field. The Commodores took a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning after what was a spectacular outing from starting pitcher Connor Fennell. Then, Vanderbilt’s bullpen blew the game by giving up five hits and six runs in the inning.
This game plays a major role in Vanderbilt’s NCAA Tournament fate. The Commodores do not have much of a choice but to sweep Missouri this weekend if it wants to remain on the tournament bubble. One loss to the worst team in the SEC could prove fatal to Vanderbilt in the end.
If Vanderbilt finishes the late comeback Saturday afternoon and piles on a second win on top of it tomorrow night, it would be an ugly start to a series, but one that keeps its season on track.
Vanderbilt and Missouri will continue the first game of the series at 4 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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