NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Vanderbilt freshman Ro Coleman might be generously listed at 5-foot-5 tall, but he sure stood big when it counted the most on Sunday night.
It came in the bottom of the ninth inning in the NCAA baseball tournament's Nashville Regional title game between top-seed Vanderbilt and No. 2 Oregon. Sent to the plate as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded and no outs, a walk was all that was needed for the Commodores to advance to their second-straight Super Regional and third in four years.
Instead, Coleman slapped a single into left field, scoring Zander Wiel from third base, and lifting Vanderbilt to a thrilling 3-2, come-from-behind win over the Ducks. It was the first walk-off, game-winning hit of the season for the Commodores.
"It was heckuva a moment for him" Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said. "It was heckuva moment for the team."
Vanderbilt (44-28) advances to either host Stanford in a Super Regional next weekend or travel to No. 6 overall seed Indiana. Stanford beat Indiana 10-7 Sunday to force a winner-take-all game Monday between the teams.
While Vanderbilt got a third-straight stellar pitching performance from sophomore Walker Buehler (11-2) to sweep the regional, it was Coleman taking the curtain call after slapping a 3-2 pitch past a drawn-in Oregon infield for the game winner.
"I was just going to the plate relaxed looking for something good to drive letting the ball travel," said Coleman, who was batting only .210 for the season. "I got a good pitch to hit, and I just drove it."
Coleman knew that a walk also meant the Commodores would win, but he also was trying to put the ball in play if the pitch from reliever Jake Reed was in the strike zone.
"I was just trying to make him come into my zone," Coleman said, "and when (the count) got 3Â1, I knew he was going to come with a fastball. So, I was just ready to hit."
In pitching a complete game, Buehler scattered six hits with eight strikeouts while throwing 127 pitches.
"I think the crowd had a lot to do with that," Buehler said of getting stronger as the game progressed in front of 2,639 at Hawkins Field. "You know, Nashville was here today, and they were loud, and every inning seemed like the ninth inning when I was on the mound. Adrenaline is a crazy thing."
In Vanderbilt's win Saturday over Oregon, sophomore Carson Fulmer (6-1) allowed only three hits over eight innings with five strikeouts. Friday night, junior Tyler Beede (8-7), the regional most valuable player, had a career-high 14 strikeouts while scattering four hits over eight frames in beating Xavier.
"I don't think you go into a regional thinking that's going to happen," Corbin said of his team's starting pitching hat trick. "That's an anomaly. To go eight, eight and nine (innings with three starters), that just doesn't happen.
" ⦠They didn't give anything away, and they couldn't."
Coleman's hit was only the sixth of the night for the Commodores, who were held to one run and four hits through seven innings by Ducks starter Stephen Nogosek. Playing their fourth game in three days, including an 11-8 win in 10 innings over Xavier earlier Sunday to avoid elimination, Oregon had to dig into its pitching depth to find a freshman making a second career start.
"We didn't have much going offensively," Corbin said. "Nogosek was outstanding for them. Walker just kept the game at bay. He got us deep into the game."
In his only other start on May 6 against Oregon State, Nogosek pitched three innings and had a no-decision. But Sunday night, the right-hander struck out seven batters and threw 109 pitches.
"It was nerve wrecking," Nogosek of getting the start in a possible season-ending situation. "I remember sitting in the hotel room before the game just trying to calm my nerves, talking with my family.
"I remember my brother just telling me, 'Calm down. You've done it millions of times. It's just now you're on a little bit bigger stage.'"
Oregon coach George Horton said he had no idea that Nogosek could go as deep into the game and be as effective, considering he had been used in spot duty all season long.
"This game, we're hanging on a bit with a repelling rope," Horton said, "and unfortunately we didn't close it out. But I think we gave the Commodores everything we could."
Oregon was eliminated from an regional for a third-straight year and fourth time in five years. That included hosting the last two at home. Last year the Ducks were the No. 8 overall national seed and would have hosted a Super Regional, if they had advanced.
Earlier in the day, Oregon stayed alive with an 11-8 win over No. 4 seed Xavier (30-29), but not before rallying from an 8-3 deficit heading into the eighth inning. The Ducks scored three runs in the eight and two more runs in the ninth to force extra innings.
Oregon then plated three runs in the top of the 10th inning for the win. Ducks left fielder Kyle Garlick hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning and then benefitted from three Xavier errors in the two-run ninth. The Ducks then used two hits, two stolen bases and another Xavier error for three runs in the 10th.
