Vanderbilt baseball no longer perfect, but wins series vs. Missouri

Vanderbilt baseball got a much-needed series win over Missouri, its eighth straight, after having to play without ace Carter Holton.

The Commodores (26-6, 11-1 SEC) won the first game, 7-6, on Thursday, then dropped the second game, 5-4, on a walk-off Friday. But Devin Futrell came back with 7⅓ scoreless innings to get the 5-0 win in the rubber match Saturday in Columbia.

Vanderbilt didn’t play particularly well all weekend. The offense struggled at times, and the absence of Holton due to soreness depleted the bullpen.

With the series win over the Tigers (20-11, 4-8), No. 4 Vanderbilt is set up for a showdown with No. 6 South Carolina (28-4, 9-2) next weekend at Hawkins Field.

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Pitching without Holton

Bryce Cunningham found out he would be making the Thursday start on Wednesday night after Holton experienced soreness and wasn’t feeling 100%. It is unclear how long Holton will be out.

In just his second start of the season, Cunningham struggled to put hitters away but was still reasonably effective, giving up two runs in 4⅔ innings with four walks and one strikeout. With Vanderbilt leading 7-2 in the seventh inning, Thomas Schultz gave up four runs, but Nick Maldonado shut the door for his fourth save.

On Friday, Hunter Owen walked two and struck out seven in five innings. He allowed three runs, though only one was earned. Sam Hliboki relieved Owen and pitched three strong innings but gave up the walk-off run in the bottom of the ninth after allowing four consecutive singles.

Futrell was magnificent Saturday. The reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week extended his scoreless streak to 15⅓ innings. Patrick Reilly and Ginther each retired one batter apiece, and Maldonado closed out the shutout.

Bradfield, Schreck lead offense

Enrique Bradfield Jr. provided a spark from the leadoff spot at 4-for-10 in the series with three walks, a double, a triple and three stolen bases.

RJ Schreck was 4-for-11 with five RBIs, a home run and a double. RJ Austin also had a four-hit weekend with three RBIs, all on Saturday.

But the rest of the offense struggled for the first time in SEC play. Both teams totaled 22 hits in the series, and 12 of those hits for Vanderbilt and eight of its 16 RBIs came from three players. Davis Diaz went hitless across the three games.

Uncharacteristic defense

Vanderbilt secured the Thursday win with a spectacular defensive play on a relay throw to nab a runner at third, but the defense was uncharacteristically shaky the rest of the weekend.

Jack Bulger committed a throwing error at catcher on Friday that led to two runs, and the defense committed three errors Saturday.

Although the Commodores escaped with a series win, they will need to play cleaner baseball next weekend against the Gamecocks to secure another series.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball wins series at Missouri without Carter Holton