Number One Goes Down
Nine-seeded Texas A&M defeated the consensually first-ranked and top-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores 5-0 on Wednesday evening. Aggie starting pitcher Parker Ray pitched eight scoreless innings allowing just three hits while walking three and striking out three.
“There is not much to say. It’s 5-0. Parker Ray did a nice job. He went through our lineup pretty easily and limited our opportunities. There’s isn’t much to say other than to give him credit,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin.
“I thought he was able to effectively down shift a change-up to the lefties. I thought he was good. He was inspired and pitched well. He’s put them in good position to win. His rhythm was good. He put the ball into the air without much energy. It was a tough day for us, but it was because of him,” Corbin added.
When asked of his performance Ray responded with the following:
“I felt really good coming in. I had a short rest but I knew this was a big game so I needed to step up for the team and have the fastballs working so I could get ahead on the counts, and then the slider and the changeup fell nice for me there. Hats off to Coach Childress on a great game calling pitches, I have so much respect for him for giving me the opportunity to be in this situation. I tried to make the best of it.”
Home Run Central
However, Parker Ray wasn’t the only thing making it a rough game for the Commodores. The middle of the Aggie batting order was a powerhouse tonight with hitters three, four and five–Cole Lankford, Troy Stein and Hunter Melton–all putting runs on the board for Texas A&M with solo home runs. Texas A&M has four home runs in their two games so far where every other team in the tournament has yet to put up even a single home run.
Moving Forward
Following the loss, the Commodores will face the loser of the Mississippi State/South Carolina game on Thursday following the end of the 9:30 a.m. game between Alabama and Ole Miss. Vanderbilt defeated South Carolina in both games that were played in the season and also swept Mississippi State in the conference series. Texas A&M will play the winner of the Mississippi State/South Carolina following the finish of the game between LSU and Arkansas Thursday evening at 4:30. Texas A&M was swept at South Carolina during the conference series earlier this season and they were also swept by Mississippi State in their series earlier this season.
