Game 1 Notes & Quotes

HOOVER, Ala. --Vanderbilt freshman Patrick Raby's (7-1) commanding performance led the No. 6 seed Commodores to a 7-0 win over No. 11 seed Missouri in Game 1 of the 2016 SEC Baseball Tournament. Vanderbilt has now won its last five games going back to the regular season and is 14-0 against Missouri all time.

Raby struck out four Missouri batters, holding them to two hits over six innings and 99 total pitches in his post-season debut. Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin said a low pitch count combined with a steady disposition led him to start the freshman.

"His volume was low coming into this game so he drew the assignment," said Corbin. "When you're pitching against a guy like Houck you know that the game's going to be very tight so you have to contain the game."

"He's got a good heartbeat," Corbin said. "He's a freshman like Alonzo but like Alonzo he contains himself very well. He's got a good personality on the field. It's quiet but he's very consistent in what he does."

Missouri's Tanner Houck pitched a solid first five innings, only giving up three hits, no runs and striking out six batters until Vanderbilt made some hay in the sixth. Centerfielder Bryan Reynolds' two-run RBI double put Vandy on the board first.

"It was just a slider that kind of left up a little bit," said Reynolds. "It was just a good pitch to hit so I just went after it. I wanted to get it out of there as fast as I could."

Reynolds and third baseman Will Toffey then scored on back-to-back fielding errors by Missouri, closing the inning out with a 4-0 Vanderbilt lead.

Missouri senior Austin Tribby took the mound to start the seventh inning.

Vandy extended its lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when pinch hitter Julian Infante blasted a two-run home run. Toffey scored four batters later off a Kyle Smith RBI single to put the Dores up 7-0.

UP NEXT: No. 6 seed Vanderbilt faces No. 3 seed Texas A&M tomorrow at 10:30 am ET / 9:30 am CT in Round 2 of the 2016 SEC Baseball Tournament.