NASHVILLE — Riley Nelson hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning, JD Thompson struck out 12 batters in eight innings, and Vanderbilt, the No. 1 seed in the 64-team field for the NCAA Division I baseball tournament, completed its fifth straight comeback victory at home with Friday’s 4-3 rally past Wright State in the Nashville Regional.
The Commodores, fresh off a Southeastern Conference tournament championship, used three late home runs to avoid becoming the first national No. 1 seed to lose a regional opener since the tournament went to its current format in 1999. The top-seeded teams are now 26-0 in openers.
Wright State jumped out to a 3-0 lead after four innings on home runs by Conlan Daniel and Boston Smith, but the game changed after the Horizon League’s Raiders from Fairborn, Ohio, pulled starter Cam Allen, who was working on a no-hitter through six innings.
Vanderbilt freshman Brodie Johnston, a former Boyd Buchanan standout from Ooltewah, broke up the no-hitter with his team-high 14th home run of the season over the wall in left field leading off the seventh.
Mike Mancini hit his fourth home run of the season in the eighth, just over a leaping attempt by center fielder Smith.
Nelson’s deep shot over the pole in right field was initially called foul before it was over overturned on the field. Wright State’s challenge was unsuccessful.
Vanderbilt (43-16) will look for its 10th straight victory overall when it faces Louisville of the Atlantic Coast Conference on Saturday in the winners-bracket final of the four-team event. Wright State (38-20) faces East Tennessee State University in an elimination game.
ETSU (41-16), the Southern Conference champion, lost 8-3 to Louisville in the Nashville Regional opener earlier Friday.
Vanderbilt’s Thompson (6-5) retired 15 of 16 batters after Smith’s homer in the fourth. Sawyer Hawks struck out the side in the ninth for his eighth save of the season.
Warren Hartzell (6-3) allowed all four runs for Wright State, which most recently won an NCAA tournament game in 2016.