Barczi’s Three-Homer Night Lifts Vanderbilt to 14-8 Win in College Station Home Run Derby
COLLEGE STATION, TX — Vanderbilt and No. 20 Texas A&M treated the crowd to a long-ball showcase Thursday, combining for 10 home runs in the series opener as the Commodores prevailed, 14-8.
Colin Barczi powered Vanderbilt’s attack, belting three homers — his second career game with that many long balls this season and the first Vanderbilt player ever to record multiple three-homer games in program history. Barczi opened the night with a home run in the first inning, his first round-tripper since returning from injury, and later crushed a 443-foot blast to left-center in the fourth. He capped the night with a third solo shot in the sixth to push the Commodores in front.
Vanderbilt struck first when Tommy Goodin connected for his eighth homer of the season, a two-out blast to right-center that gave the Commodores an early 2-0 lead. Texas A&M answered with a solo shot in the bottom of the second, but Mike Mancini restored a two-run cushion for Vandy with a solo homer in the third and helped manufacture another run on an error and a sac fly, giving Vanderbilt a 5-1 advantage. Mancini’s home run was Vanderbilt’s 66th of the year, matching last season’s total.
The Aggies’ Caden Sorrell supplied one of his team’s long balls in the third, and A&M narrowed the gap further with a pair of homers in the fifth to pull within one. Barczi’s fourth-inning blast and his sixth-inning shot helped keep Vanderbilt in front, and the Dores tacked on insurance runs later in the game.
Vanderbilt extended the lead in the eighth when Korbin Reynolds ripped a two-run single to make it 11-8. In the ninth, an RBI single by Max Jensen — set up by a Brodie Johnston double — pushed the lead to three. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks to Ryker Waite and Reynolds made it a 14-8 final. Vanderbilt finished with 18 hits, a total the club has reached twice in its last six games.
On the mound, Brennan Seiber (5-1) earned the victory with 2.1 innings of relief work after starter Connor Fennell, and Tyler Baird slammed the door with scoreless eighth and ninth innings to record his first collegiate save.
Vanderbilt improved to 19-12 overall and 6-4 in SEC play, while Texas A&M fell to 23-6 and 5-5 in the league. The teams will meet in a Friday doubleheader at Blue Bell Park, with the first game scheduled for 2 PM and the nightcap slated for 6 PM.
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