NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Xavier baseball topped No. 4 Vanderbilt, 2-1, on Sunday night to advance to the NCAA Nashville Regional Finals.
The Musketeers moved to 39-24, while the No. 1 seed and Southeastern Conference Champion Commodores end their season 42-20. The 39 wins for Xavier matches the program record for wins in a season (the 2009 team went 39-21).
Xavier will take on No. 24 Oregon (No. 2 seed) in the regional finals on June 4 at 9:15 p.m. CT. If the Musketeers defeat the Ducks, the two teams will play on Monday, June 5th to determine who advances to the NCAA Super Regionals.
The Musketeers move to 8-9 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and are playing the program's third NCAA Regional Finals. Xavier also advanced to the regional finals in 2016 and 2017.
The Commodores scored the first run of the game on a Davis Diaz RBI single to left field in the third inning. Vanderbilt maintained its 1-0 advantage until the sixth inning when the Musketeers tied the game on a
Matt McCormick sacrifice fly to left field.
With the bases loaded in the seventh inning,
Jared Cushing gave Xavier a 2-1 lead when he crossed home plate following a
Matthew DePrey hit by pitch.
Heading into the top of the ninth inning, the game was delayed for three hours and 59 minutes due to lighting in the area.
Xavier's
Justin Loer retired all three batters he faced in the top of the ninth inning following the delay, sealing the victory for the Musketeers.
Xavier had two more hits (6-4) than Vanderbilt and left four more runners on base (8-4). Both teams committed one error.
- Luke Hoskins (7-2) matched his season high in innings pitched, throwing 7.0 innings for the third time this season. The RHP threw four strikeouts and allowed one run and three hits. He also walked two batters.
- Justin Loer earned his seventh save of the season, throwing three strikeouts in two scoreless innings of work. He only allowed one hit and didn't walk any batters. The seven saves ranks tied for 10th in single-season school history.