Series Recap: Fog, Free Bases, and Missed Chances Doom VandyBoys at Missouri
Game 1 Recap: Missouri 8, Vanderbilt 7 — 10 innings #FogGate
A complete gut punch for the VandyBoys.
Vanderbilt had this game firmly in its hands, building a 6–1 lead into the 8th inning behind a productive night from the offense and a strong start from Connor Fennell.
Rustan Rigdon got Vanderbilt on the board in the 2nd with an RBI groundout, then added another RBI single in the 4th. Will Hampton followed with an RBI single of his own to make it 3–0, and Braden Holcomb extended the lead in the 5th with a solo homer to deep left, his 14th of the season.
Missouri finally broke through in the 6th, but Vanderbilt answered again in the 7th. Korbin Reynolds launched a 405-foot homer to left, and Holcomb added an RBI single to make it 6–1.
At that point, Vanderbilt had everything lined up. The offense had done its job, Fennell had given them exactly what they needed, and the VandyBoys were six outs away from opening the weekend with a road SEC win.
Then the entire game unraveled.
The 8th-Inning Meltdown
Missouri scored six runs in the bottom of the 8th, turning a 6–1 Vanderbilt lead into a 7–6 deficit.
The inning was all on Luke Guth, who simply could not stop the bleeding. Guth was left out there for nine batters, and by the time Vanderbilt finally went to Shorey in relief, the game had already flipped. Missouri had already put together the kind of inning that has defined too much of Vanderbilt’s season: free bases, defensive mistakes, soft contact, bunt singles, and a complete inability to regain control once things started going sideways.
The puzzling part is how long the leash was. Guth did not have it, but Vanderbilt kept asking him to find it against batter after batter. That decision became one of the defining moments of the game.
A throwing error from Ryker Waite opened the door, but Missouri kept applying pressure from there. Kaden Peer doubled home a run, Keegan Knutson and Eric Maisonet each drove in runs with bunt singles, Kam Durnin walked with the bases loaded, and Blaize Ward capped the inning with an RBI groundout.
Just like that, Vanderbilt had blown a five-run lead.
Holcomb Saves It Briefly — Or Maybe Should Have Won It
To Vanderbilt’s credit, they did respond in the 9th.
With the VandyBoys down to their final outs, Braden Holcomb absolutely smoked a ball into the fog in right-center field. It was ruled a ground-rule double, scoring Cade Sears to tie the game at 7–7, but the box score does not come close to telling the whole story.
The cameras could not pick up where the ball landed because of how dense the fog had become, and there was real question as to whether the ball actually left the yard. The TrackMan numbers shown on the broadcast only made that question more legitimate: 108 mph exit velocity, an 18-degree launch angle, and 379 feet.
In normal viewing conditions, maybe that play is judged cleanly. In that fog, nobody seemed to have a clear look at it.
So instead of Vanderbilt potentially taking a 9–7 lead on a three-run homer, Holcomb was credited with a game-tying ground-rule double. The game was eventually suspended because of the visibility, which only made the whole sequence even more bizarre.
When the game resumed, Tyler Baird got himself into trouble, allowing the game-winning run to reach third base, but he was ultimately able to escape the jam.
In the top of the 10th, Rigdon reached base and advanced to third. With two strikes on pinch hitter Aukai Kea, Rigdon tried to steal home. The umpire called him out, but on replay, it looked like Rigdon may have actually been safe. Tim Corbin tried to challenge the call, but after the umpires huddled, they ruled it strike three on Kea instead.
I’m not one to criticize umpiring often (well, not too often) but this weekend was an absolutely terrible showing from that crew.
Missouri still deserves credit for finishing the game, walking it off in the bottom of the 10th on a single, but that moment will be hard for Vanderbilt fans to forget.
The Story on the Mound
The most frustrating part is that Connor Fennell was really good.
Fennell gave Vanderbilt exactly the kind of start it needed on the road. He kept Missouri under control, worked with a lead, and put the VandyBoys in position to win the opener. After a season where Vanderbilt has often struggled to get complete pitching performances in SEC play, this should have been one of those nights where the starting pitching was the story for the right reasons.
Instead, the 8th inning erased it.
Luke Guth was left in for nine batters during Missouri’s six-run rally, and the decision not to go to the bullpen sooner became impossible to ignore as the inning spiraled. By the time Tyler Baird entered, Vanderbilt’s 6–1 lead had become a 7–6 deficit.
That is what makes the loss even more painful. Fennell did his job. The offense did enough. Vanderbilt had the game exactly where it needed to be.
Then it slipped away.
For Missouri, the bullpen did just enough late. Juan Villarreal earned the win after Vanderbilt tied it in the 9th, and the Tigers took advantage of every opening Vanderbilt gave them.
Offensive Bright Spots
The loss overshadows it, but Vanderbilt had several strong offensive performances.
Braden Holcomb led the way, going 3-for-5 with a homer, double, and 3 RBIs. Rustan Rigdon added two hits and 2 RBIs, Logan Johnstone reached three times and scored twice, and Korbin Reynolds added a solo homer.
The offense did enough to win.
Fennell gave them enough to win.
The rest of the game did not.
Game 2 Recap: Vanderbilt 11, Missouri 8 — 11 innings
A wild, chaotic, absolutely necessary response from the VandyBoys.
After the collapse in Game 1, Vanderbilt easily could have folded. And for a while, it looked like they might.
The VandyBoys jumped out to an early 3–0 lead, only to give up eight unanswered runs as Missouri took control. But unlike the opener, Vanderbilt was the team that kept punching back late.
They erased an 8–3 deficit, tied the game in the 8th, and then exploded for three runs in the 11th to win 11–8 and even the series.
Early Lead, Then Trouble
Vanderbilt scored twice in the 1st inning, first on a passed ball that brought home Ryker Waite, then on a Braden Holcomb sacrifice fly that scored Mike Mancini.
Tommy Goodin added to it in the 2nd with a 412-foot home run to deep center, his 12th of the season, giving Vanderbilt a 3–0 lead.
Then Missouri immediately flipped the game.
The Tigers scored four runs in the 2nd, with Vanderbilt helping them along through a balk and then Missouri cashing in with a Kam Durnin two-run double and a Blaize Ward RBI single. Missouri added three more in the 3rd, with wild pitches doing a lot of the damage, then made it 8–3 in the 4th on a Donovan Jordan RBI double.
At that point, it felt like Vanderbilt was in danger of watching the series completely get away from them.
The Comeback
Instead, Vanderbilt answered.
Logan Johnstone started the comeback in the 6th with a 427-foot homer to deep center, cutting the deficit to 8–4. Later in the inning, Korbin Reynolds drove in Tommy Goodin with an RBI groundout, and Ryker Waite singled up the middle to score Rustan Rigdon.
Suddenly, it was 8–6.
Vanderbilt added another run in the 7th when Johnstone drove in Brodie Johnston with an RBI groundout, making it 8–7.
Then in the 8th, Rustan Rigdon delivered the swing that fully brought Vanderbilt back, launching a 395-foot homer to deep center to tie the game at 8–8.
After blowing a five-run lead the day before, Vanderbilt had now erased a five-run deficit.
The 11th-Inning Breakthrough
The game stayed tied into the 11th, and that is when Ryker Waite delivered one of the biggest swings of the weekend.
Waite jumped on the first pitch and launched a 407-foot home run to deep right field, giving Vanderbilt a 9–8 lead.
The VandyBoys were not done.
Mike Mancini and Brodie Johnston reached, Holcomb moved them along, and Logan Johnstone came through again with a two-run single to left field, stretching the lead to 11–8.
Some great defense was played in these later innings as well, including the incredible play from Brodie Johnston in the 10th inning.
After everything that had happened in the first two games of the series, Vanderbilt finally had the late-inning answer it needed.
The Story on the Mound
This was not a clean pitching performance early.
Aiden Stillman and Brennan Seiber both struggled with command, and Missouri took full advantage. The Tigers scored eight runs in the first four innings despite finishing with only eight hits, helped by nine walks, multiple wild pitches, and several free bases.
But the game changed when Alex Kranzler took over.
Kranzler gave Vanderbilt one of the most important relief outings of the weekend, throwing 4.2 scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and striking out seven. In a game that was on the verge of getting away from Vanderbilt completely, he stabilized everything. He gave the offense time to chip away, kept Missouri stuck at eight, and turned what looked like a lost game into a comeback opportunity.
Then Wyatt Nadeau finished it.
Nadeau was excellent over the final 2.1 innings, allowing no hits, no walks, and striking out four. Between Kranzler and Nadeau, Vanderbilt got 7.0 scoreless innings of relief with 11 strikeouts after Missouri had taken an 8–3 lead.
That was the difference. The offense delivered the comeback, but Kranzler made sure Vanderbilt actually had enough time to complete it.
Offensive Explosion
This was one of Vanderbilt’s biggest offensive performances of the season.
The VandyBoys finished with 11 runs on 14 hits and four home runs.
Ryker Waite went 3-for-6 with a double, homer, 2 RBIs, and the go-ahead blast in the 11th. Logan Johnstone was massive, going 3-for-5 with a homer and 4 RBIs. Tommy Goodin homered, Rustan Rigdon homered, and Mike Mancini added two hits.
It was messy. It was stressful. But it was also a huge response.
Game 3 Recap: Missouri 4, Vanderbilt 1
A flat finish to a frustrating weekend.
After the emotional swing of the first two games, Vanderbilt had a chance to come away with a road series win. Instead, the VandyBoys never really got going offensively, falling 4–1 in the rubber match.
Vanderbilt scored immediately in the 1st inning, but after that, the bats went quiet. Missouri answered with three runs in the bottom half, and that was basically the game.
Early Chance, Then Silence
Vanderbilt took a 1–0 lead in the 1st when Ryker Waite scored on a Missouri fielding error.
But Missouri responded right away.
Kam Durnin and Blaize Ward reached in the bottom half, and Mateo Serna delivered a two-run single to shallow right to put Missouri ahead 2–1. Donovan Jordan followed with an RBI groundout, giving the Tigers a 3–1 lead before Vanderbilt could settle in.
From there, Vanderbilt’s offense simply disappeared.
The VandyBoys finished with just 4 hits. They did draw 6 walks, but they could not turn those baserunners into runs. Missouri used six pitchers, and Vanderbilt never found the big swing it needed.
Missouri added an insurance run in the 8th on a Blaize Ward sacrifice fly, making it 4–1.
The Story on the Mound
Connor Hamilton struggled in the 1st inning, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk while throwing 41 pitches. That rough opening frame put Vanderbilt behind immediately.
But Jacob Faulkner deserves credit for keeping Vanderbilt in the game.
Faulkner was excellent in relief, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings while allowing just 2 hits. He did not pile up strikeouts, but he gave Vanderbilt exactly what it needed after the rough start: stability, length, and a chance.
Matthew Shorey allowed one run over the final 1.1 innings, but the real issue was not the pitching after the 1st.
It was the offense.
Missed Offensive Opportunity
Vanderbilt had chances because Missouri’s staff issued 6 walks, but the VandyBoys could not cash in.
Braden Holcomb reached three times with a hit and two walks. Mike Mancini and Logan Johnstone each added a hit, and Rustan Rigdon reached twice with a hit and a walk.
But Vanderbilt finished with only one run, no extra-base hits, and no real sustained pressure after the opening inning.
For a team trying to win a road series against last-place Missouri, that simply was not enough.
The Bottom Line
This was a damaging weekend for the VandyBoys, and there is really no way around it.
Going on the road in the SEC is never easy, but this was a series Vanderbilt had to win. Missouri entered the weekend at the bottom of the league, and Vanderbilt had already put itself in a position where there was almost no margin for error.
Now, barring a run in Hoover, that margin may be gone completely.
The worst part is that the series was right there.
Vanderbilt led Game 1 by five runs in the 8th inning and lost. That inning was not some slow, unavoidable collapse. Connor Fennell had done his job and gave Vanderbilt the start it needed to win the opener. But Luke Guth was left on the mound for nine batters as the game unraveled, and by the time Matthew Shorey finally got them out of it, Missouri had already taken the lead.
Even then, Vanderbilt may have had a three-run homer from Braden Holcomb in the 9th, but the fog turned the entire moment into chaos. Instead of a clear answer on whether the ball left the yard, Vanderbilt got a game-tying ground-rule double, and Missouri eventually walked it off.
They showed real fight in Game 2, erasing a five-run deficit and winning in extras. Alex Kranzler and Wyatt Nadeau gave Vanderbilt seven scoreless innings of relief, and the offense delivered one of its gutsiest comebacks of the season. But that win only gave Vanderbilt a chance to salvage the weekend.
Then, with the series still there to be won, the offense went quiet in Game 3. Vanderbilt scored in the 1st inning and never scored again. Against a Missouri team they simply could not afford to lose a series to, that was not good enough.
That is what makes this weekend so frustrating. Vanderbilt was not swept. They were not completely outclassed. They had chances to win the series and could not finish.
There were bright spots. Fennell gave Vanderbilt a strong start in Game 1. Braden Holcomb continued to produce. Logan Johnstone had a huge Game 2. Ryker Waite delivered one of the biggest swings of the weekend. Rustan Rigdon gave Vanderbilt quality at-bats and timely production. Kranzler, Nadeau, and Jacob Faulkner all gave the staff important outings in relief.
But the bigger picture is hard to ignore.
The 8th-inning collapse in Game 1 was brutal. The decision to leave Guth out there as long as Vanderbilt did made it even harder to understand. The fog controversy made the night even stranger. The free bases in Game 2 nearly buried them. The offense in Game 3 was not good enough.
And when you are fighting for your postseason life, losing a series to last-place Missouri is the kind of result that can end the conversation.
At this point, Vanderbilt’s NCAA Tournament hopes are all but gone unless they make serious noise in Hoover. The path is no longer about simply taking care of business. They had that chance and let it slip away.
Now, the VandyBoys may need the SEC Tournament to save their season.
Bonus: About #FogGate
Also, while we’re here, putting “gate” after something to imply a scandal is ridiculous. “Gate” does not actually mean scandal or controversy. Watergate was just the name of the office and hotel complex in Washington, D.C., where the Democratic National Committee headquarters was located. In 1972, people connected to Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign broke into those offices, and the scandal eventually helped lead to Nixon’s resignation.
Somehow, because the complex was called Watergate, society decided every controversy needed “-gate” slapped on the end of it. So yes, I’m calling this #FogGate, but I’m doing so under protest.
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