Vanderbilt Commodores

Free Bases Let No. 14 Vanderbilt Cruise to Win

Vanderbilt batters drew 13 walks against Tennessee Tech to secure the win Tuesday night before heading to California this weekend.

Taylor Hodges

Vanderbilt’s Riley Nelson, left, is congratulated after scoring on a bases loaded double by Colin Barczi in the first inning of an NCAA college baseball game against Tennessee Tech at Hawkins Field Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.
Vanderbilt’s Riley Nelson, left, is congratulated after scoring on a bases loaded double by Colin Barczi in the first inning of an NCAA college baseball game against Tennessee Tech at Hawkins Field Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. / Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Vanderbilt and Tennessee Tech have played 73 times on the baseball diamond with the Commodores winning 50 of those games.

They picked up win No. 51 against the Golden Eagles on Tuesday night, 16-3. But the Golden Eagles had plenty of reason for optimism scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. A single and a walk with two outs led to Riley Black hitting a double down the leftfield foul line led Tennessee Tech leading 2-0.

No. 14 Vanderbilt, however, didn’t let last for very long, scoring four runs in bottom half of the inning to regain a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. And the Commodores didn’t have to swing the bat very much to get on base. The Golden Eagles’ defense made just a pair of errors (but did allow one run), but their pitchers gave up a combined 13 walks, three batters hit by pitches and two wild pitches.

Vanderbilt’s batters had 13 RBIs against Tennessee Tech, led by Colin Barczi whose three-run double in the first inning put the Commodores ahead. The Commodores added one run in the second inning and added five more in the third that saw two runs come as a result of bases-loaded walks. RJ Austin, Riley Nelson, and Brodie Johnston all had two RBIs each.

Austin Nye (1-0) picked up the win on the mound for Vanderbilt. After a rough start to the game, Nye was able to shut down the Golden Eagles at the plate. He had 2.1 innings of work and gave up two runs on three hits, one walk and four strikeouts. Brennan Seiber came in for relief and pitched 1.2 innings and allowed just two base runners and one struck out one batter.

Fennell came into the game in the fifth and struck out three-straight batters on 15 pitches.

Up next for the Commodores (8-1) is a trip out west to the Southern California College Baseball Classic for three games in three days. Vanderbilt will face UCLA at 7 p.m. Friday, USC at 4 p.m. Saturday and UConn at noon Sunday.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Taylor Hodges is a staff writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI covering all-things Vanderbilt. Taylor brings more than a decade’s worth of award-winning sports writing, photography and video experience covering every level of sports — from Little League baseball to professional sports and other sports like hunting and fishing. Taylor is fueled by his lifelong passion for sports that began the same day Kirk Gibson hit his legendary World Series walk-off home run, Arkansas beat Texas in Austin and No. 4 Notre Dame beat No. 1 Miami in the Catholics vs. Convicts game.

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