Why Vanderbilt baseball's win over Louisville provides momentum entering Tennessee series

Rivalry games are always important to Vanderbilt baseball, but the Commodores’ four rivalry games this week carry extra stakes.

Coming off five straight SEC losses, Vanderbilt’s spot in the NCAA tournament could be at risk. The Commodores needed the Battle of the Barrel rivalry game against Louisville on Tuesday to get back on track before hosting No. 1 Tennessee this weekend.

Vanderbilt (33-16) got the win it needed, 4-2, over the Cardinals (29-19). Devin Futrell put up a strong start, allowing one run in five innings with one walk and six strikeouts. After the Commodores largely struggled to find the strike zone last weekend against Georgia, Vanderbilt pitchers issued just three free passes.

After Brennan Seiber and Ryan Ginther combined to load the bases in the ninth inning, Miller Green picked up his third save of the season by getting a strikeout to seal the victory.

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Why Devin Futrell's return is key for Vanderbilt baseball

Devin Futrell started off the season as the Sunday starter but made an ineffective start against South Carolina before missing a month with injury.

Futrell looked back to his old form against the Cardinals. After walking the first batter of the game, he threw strikes the rest of the way and limited damage to just one run.

The lengthy start means that Futrell is unlikely to pitch against Tennessee this weekend, but even if Futrell doesn't pitch, his ability to build back up and eat innings provides Vanderbilt with increased depth for the series.

"Just feeling like yourself again, when you know that you've commanded the baseball for a long period of time," Tim Corbin said of Futrell. "He's been a big part of our success over the time that he's been here. So I think just to feel like himself again ... and when he fielded that that ball, came off the mound, I thought, OK, he's getting a little bit of swagger back."

David Horn Jr. and Luke Guth, each of whom has shown good ability but struggled to throw strikes at times, pitched a scoreless inning apiece. Horn got three groundouts, while Guth allowed one hit and got a strikeout.

Brennan Seiber pitched one scoreless inning before allowing a home run and a hit batter in his second frame. He was replaced by Ryan Ginther, who struck out the first batter he faced but then allowed a single and a hit batter. From there, Green closed the door.

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Vanderbilt's biggest rival is Tennessee, but the Louisville rivalry is close behind. Green, who prepped at Lipscomb Academy, already made his mark on the Louisville rivalry by earning the save. Ginther, another one of the four Commodores pitchers who has three or more saves this season, is from Hendersonville and went to Station Camp High School.

Though only a freshman, Green leads the team in ERA and is fifth in ERA among SEC relievers with at least 20 innings pitched.

"It's more about matchup right now," Corbin said. "It's taking their hitters and just determining who fits best against the group of guys that are coming up or the one guy or two guys, depending on what we're looking at."

A third Nashville-area left-hander could join Green and Ginther in making a mark on the Tennessee series. Ethan McElvain, from Nolensville High School, has a 3.38 ERA, second on the team. But he hasn't pitched since April 20 while recovering from a back injury.

McElvain is currently throwing, Corbin said, and is day-to-day. It is not clear whether he will pitch against the Vols.

Can Louisville win give positive momentum for Tennessee series?

Although the win was low-scoring and Vanderbilt's struggling offense produced just five hits, the victory could give Vanderbilt some positive momentum going into the series against the Vols. The Commodores are coming off a sweep by Georgia, the third time they have been swept this season, and have lost seven straight games to Tennessee.

"(Corbin) is talking about the snowball effect," Futrell said. "So after this, we're looking forward to getting a good series win at the right time."