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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The mantra for Vanderbilt since the NCAA baseball postseason began has been "45 innings".
That translates to five victories -- three in the regional round and two in the Super Regional -- needed to get to a College World Series for a second time and first since 2011.
Heading into Saturday's Super Regional game with Stanford, the Commodores had taken care of the first 36 innings, winning four straight games, including Friday's victory over the Cardinal. That meant one more win would earn Vanderbilt a trip to Omaha, Nebraska, next weekend for the CWS.
By the time the 45th inning rolled around, Vanderbilt was just hoping for a 46th. That would have meant extra innings after rallying for three runs over the last two innings to pull into a 4-4 tie heading to the bottom of the ninth.
But Stanford has become king of the NCAA walk off, getting a solo home run into the right-field bleachers this time around by designated hitter Wayne Taylor for a 5-4 win. Last Monday, the Cardinal got a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth by shortstop Tommy Edman for a win over host Indiana to claim that regional.
On Sunday at 2 p.m. CDT at Hawkins Field, Vanderbilt and Stanford play a winner-take-all Super Regional finale with a berth into the College World Series on the line.
"You certainly can't play that way," Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said of Sunday's game meaning so much, especially after the Commodores hosted and lost a Super Regional last year to Louisville despite being the No. 2 overall national seed. " ⦠You just have to play the game the best you possibly can.
"We talked a lot about that today. We talked a lot of staying off (looking at) the scoreboard, just winning the frames. We're 45Â0 (win-wise) when we win the frame, I mean most teams probably are. But if you just do a good job of winning frames during the course of the game, the likelihood of you winning is great."
The 20th-ranked Commodores (45-19) didn't do that on Saturday against Stanford (45-35), despite rallying for two runs in the eighth inning to pull within a run and scoring another in the ninth to tie the game. They still left the bases loaded in both innings with the potential to break the game open with a clutch hit.
"I thought we were going to win that ballgame," Corbin said. "There wasn't any way we weren't going to win that ballgame. I thought we were just a hit away."
Instead, it was Stanford getting the timely hits, especially the game-winner by Turner in the ninth. It was the first home run of his career yielded by Commodores junior reliever Adam Ravenelle, who was drafted Friday by Detroit in the fourth round (130th overall) of the Major League Baseball entry draft.
"I remember seeing that guy (Ravenelle) the first time when we played Vanderbilt (earlier in the season)," Turner said of a three-game series between the teams in early March swept by the Commodores. "I remember he was a guy who throws a hard fastball and a good slider.
"I was trying to get a good fastball to hit. If I was going to get a hit with his velocity, I had to get the head of the bat out. I thought it was a pretty good pitch he threw."
The Cardinal took a 2-1 lead -- their first of the Super Regional -- in the fourth inning with three straight hits off Commodores starter Carson Fulmer, who had nine strikeouts. The big blow was a two-run double by catcher Brant Whiting, who had a game-high three hits. Stanford chased Fulmer with a two-run seventh inning that featured Whiting leading off with a double.
The Commodores, meanwhile, scored two runs in the eighth with only one hit thanks to three walks allowed by Stanford reliever A.J. Vanegas (4-3), who had been drafted earlier Saturday in the 11th round (339th overall) by the Dodgers.
Vanderbilt tied the game in the top of the ninth when leadoff hitter Dansby Swanson struck out but reached first on a wild pitch. After a walk to Bryan Reynolds and an infield single by Zander Wiel, Xavier Turner was hit by a pitch from Vanegas to score Swanson.
"We spend a lot of time and training so that no matter what happens in those first six innings of the game, really focus in on the last three innings," said Commodores right fielder Rhett Wiseman, who had two of his team's seven hits. "I thought today we had the momentum early, but lost it in the middle part of the game.
"Soon as the seventh inning came around, we really brought it back together."
Vanderbilt got on the scoreboard first with one run in the second inning. After Wiseman hit a two-out, ground-rule double into the right-center field gap, John Norwood reached first on an infield single. Wiseman scored on the play off a throwing error to first base by Edman.
The Commodores also had several chances in the sixth and seventh innings. In the top of the sixth inning, Commodores junior shortstop Vince Conde drew a one-out walk and stole second base with two outs. But Quantrill struck out Turner on a full-count pitch to end the inning.
Wiseman led off the seventh inning with a double and reached third on a ground out by John Norwood. But Stanford starting pitcher Cal Quantrill struck out Karl Ellison and got Ro Coleman to ground out to first on a sharply-hit ball to end the inning.
"It was obviously a great college baseball game, a little too great for me late in the game," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. "We gave them a lot of opportunities, and they took advantage of it.
" ⦠I thought we were comfortable with a four-run lead, but obviously that wasn't the case."
