Baseball’s Ninth Inning Push Cut Short by No. 4 Vanderbilt

Saturday, February 26

Nashville, TN

3 PM

Army West Point

1-4

Vanderbilt

4-2

Army

Vanderbilt

Baseball’s Ninth Inning Push Cut Short by No. 4 Vanderbilt

February 26, 2022 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Army West Point baseball team made things interesting in the ninth inning, but was ultimately unable to overtake No. 4 Vanderbilt for the win in the second game between the two sides, as the Black Knights were downed 10-7 at Hawkins Field.

Army (1-4) managed to load up the bases with no outs in the final frame after a Commodore (4-2) pitcher walked pinch-hitters Bennett Smith and Blake Ledoux and plunked Andre Walden. Both Hunter Meade and Kevin Dubrule then drove in runners to bring Vanderbilt's lead down to three, but it was the closest that the Cadets got as they left the tying run in the on-deck circle for the second-straight outing.

Vanderbilt tagged up three runs against starting arm Anthony LoRicco (0-1) in the opening frame and never looked back. The senior right-hander, who was stuck with the loss, was one of three Cadet pitchers to appear in the contest, joined by Robbie Buecker and Steven Graver. The Commodores' 10 runs were split evenly between LoRicco and Buecker, while Graver emerged unscathed, facing just one over the minimum in his solo inning of work.

Offensively, the Black Knights were led by Andre Walden, who went 1-for-1 at the plate while scoring three runs and recording the team's second home run of the season with a solo shot that was blasted out to left center field.

Army's first run of the game came in the top of the third when Hunter Meade drove in Cam Cerruto, who led off with a double. Meade's RBI put the team on the board after Vanderbilt scored four unanswered runs over the course of the opening two frames.

The Commodores, who were forced to put up a zero in the bottom half of the third, later responded with a scoring spree that saw the team collect six runs over the course of four innings. Aside from Walden's homer, the Black Knights' offense struggled to string anything together during the stretch, leaving two runners stranded.

In his first appearance of the season, Graver worked around a two-out walk in the bottom of the eighth to hold Vanderbilt scoreless for just the third time all day. Though the team carried some of that momentum into the top of the ninth, Army was unable to sustain it long enough to surpass Vanderbilt for the win.

Coach's Corner
"It's a 10-7 game on the scoreboard, but it wasn't competitive. We need to do much better. We need to pass it on to the next guy, offensively. We're hot and we're cold and there's no consistency. On the mound, we're not winning enough counts. The effort is there, they're trying. But we need to execute better. There's a lot of attention to detail that needs to take place for us to beat a team like Vanderbilt. It's really hard to beat a team like Vanderbilt." – Head Coach Jim Foster

Cadet's Corner
"I feel like we went out and had the pieces, but just didn't put them together. We didn't execute when we needed to. We need more 'right time, right spot' and we will have to piece things together better tomorrow." – Andre Walden

What's Next
Army will close out its series at Vanderbilt with a 2 p.m. EST game on Sunday at Hawkins Field. The action will be carried on SECN+.

Follow Along
For complete coverage of Army West Point Baseball, follow the Black Knights on Twitter and Instagram at @ArmyWP_Baseball and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.