Light’s Out
In a rematch of a game that saw top-seeded Vanderbilt fall to nine-seeded Texas A&M earlier in the tournament, the Commodores defeated the Aggies 3-0 on Friday evening to eliminate Texas A&M from the tournament.
The Commodores’ performance in Friday night’s game made it evident as to why Vanderbilt is the unanimously top-ranked team in the country. Offensively, the Commodores were able to put up fourteen hits, defensively they did not have a single error, and on the mound Vanderbilt’s Tyler Beede pitched a two-hit gem to lead the team to victory.
“It was a lot of making adjustments,” explained Beede when asked about his start.
“I was determined to get back out there after last week. This is what our team does. We make adjustments. We didn’t play our best the first two games, but we played well tonight,” Beede continued.
Beede’s final line came to 7.1 innings pitched with two hits, zero runs, four walks and eight strikeouts on 108 pitches.
“I felt good with my fast ball. I felt good going into the sixth and the seventh. I hoped to try to finish the game. I just had to trust the defense,” said Beede of his performance.
While obviously disappointed to be done with the tournament, Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress had a lot to say about both teams’ performances.
“Those guys showed a lot of composure, but we played better defense behind them. Beede is 14-0 for a good reason. You go through this league and you’re 14-0, you’re pretty good on the mound; when you have a defense behind you, an offense that’s going to score you some runs, you’re pretty good. Vanderbilt’s a very dynamic team; they can beat you with speed, with discipline, with power. They don’t beat themselves, they’re going to play for at least another months” said Childress.
Moving Forward
Although Texas A&M is now eliminated, coach Childress seemed optimistic of the Aggies’ postseason chances.
“We came here to win it, I’m certainly disappointed in that. But we’ve played extremely well in the past month. We’ve given ourselves a chance to play in the postseason so I fully expect that we’ll be one of the 64 teams announced Monday,” said Childress.
With the win which marked their 50th win of the season, Vanderbilt advances to play reigning SEC Tournament champions, Mississippi State in a single elimination game on Saturday following the 12:00 game between Arkansas and LSU.
