(OMAHA, Neb.)- Day two of the College World Series got under way with an SEC/ACC tilt between Vanderbilt and Louisville. The result was an exciting pitcher’s duel accented by some clutch home runs.
Vanderbilt defeated Louisville 3-1 in Sunday’s first contest, thanks to a great start by pitcher Drake Fellows and the bat of third baseman Austin Martin.
Martin got things going early with a deep home run to left-center field in the bottom of the first inning. He took the very first pitch he saw from Louisville pitcher Reid Detmers, which also happened to be Detmers’ first pitch, and crushed it to give Vandy the first lead of the day.
After Martin’s dinger in the first, the two teams’ respective aces settled in. Fellows was dialed in from the get-go. In his first three innings, Fellows threw 35 pitches, 23 of those being strikes. His counterpart Detmers, only surrendered two further hits after the initial home run from Martin. Early on, it looked like a game eerily parallel to last night’s 1-0 contest between Florida State and Arkansas.
It wasn’t until the fifth inning that the next run came across the plate, this time coming from the Cardinals. After Justin Lavey doubled, Henry Davis drove in the first Louisville run with an RBI single, making the game 1-1.
Louisville continued the threat in the fifth, eventually loading the bases thanks to singles from Lucas Dunn and Logan Wyatt. Drake Fellows, however, was able to get himself out of the jam, getting consecutive outs to prevent any further damage. It was a huge opportunity missed for the Cardinals, as they would not score again.
After a few more innings of scoreless baseball, Austin Martin came through again for the Commodores. Martin launched his second homer of the game, once again to left-center, this time a two-run shot after Julian Infante had reached previously on a double. It gave Vanderbilt a 3-1 lead heading into the eighth.
Fellows exited the game after seven innings, giving way to Zach King, who recorded one out, before handing the ball over to Tyler Brown. Brown closed the door on the Cardinals, picking up a five-out save.
For Vanderbilt, they pick up their first CWS win since 2015, a year in which they finished runner-up. They’re looking to win their second title in three trips, last winning in 2014.
For Louisville, they dip to the loser’s bracket, where they will await the loser of Auburn and Mississippi State.
Louisville will play next on Tuesday at 1 p.m. CST, with Vanderbilt following on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
