No. 14 Vanderbilt Baseball Drops Second Game at Southern California College Baseball Classic

Originally posted on Vanderbilt Commodores on SI
By Joe Gaither | Last updated Mar 2, 2025 3:51 PM ET

Vanderbilt baseball's (9-3) second trip west this season wasn't as friendly as the first as the Commodores lost consecutive games at the Southern California College Baseball Classic after winning two of three in Arizona to open the year.

The Commodores couldn't build on its early scoring and failed to match Uconn (2-7), losing to the Huskies 6-2 to give the Big East team its second win of the year and their only win of the weekend. The loss marks the first non-conference series loss since losing to Oklahoma State in 2022.

Sunday's loss starts at the plate with a failure to capitalize with runners on base. The 'Dores opened the game scoring a run in both the first and second innings but couldn't score another leaving eight runners on base and going 3-for-19 with runners on base against the Huskies and 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Vanderbilt outhit Uconn 9-7 but the Huskies capitalized hitting three home runs to make the most of their swings.

Commodores starting pitcher Cody Bowker pitched four innings, striking out six batters, allowing four runs on five hits with two walks and a wild pitch. He gave up two home runs in his final inning of work, allowing three runs to leave the game with Vandy trailing 4-2.

England Bryan pitched 1.2 innings in relief and struck out three batters but gave up a home run, a single and a walk and a balk to give up two more runs. Luke Guth and Jakob Schulz tag-teamed a clean sixth and seventh inning before handing off to Tommy O'Rourke who went two innings with three strikeouts to keep the Huskies off the board.

Centerfielder RJ Austin still stood out, despite the Commodore offense struggling as a whole. The junior went 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base and a RBI. He scored one run in the first inning and was stranded on base twice.

The Commodores return to action on Tuesday and Wednesday for midweek games against Evansville and St. Bonaventure before hosting a weekend series against Xavier.