Vanderbilt baseball beats Tennessee Tech on RJ Austin's walk-off HBP in 11th

After a ninth-inning home run with two outs caused Vanderbilt baseball to drop the rubber match against Mississippi State, the Commodores narrowly avoided the same fate against Tennessee Tech in an 8-7 walk-off win.

Just like Sunday, Vanderbilt (32-13) held a 7-6 lead in the top of the ninth, but a home run from Mack Whitcomb tied the game. The Commodores and Golden Eagles went scoreless in the 10th before Vanderbilt loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 11th with a walk, single and Davis Diaz' bunt single. RJ Austin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to end it.

Austin finished just 1-for-4, but he had four RBIs as his one hit was a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, a six-run inning after Tennessee Tech had an early 6-1 lead.

"I know everybody wants to get out of this game, or win the game," Austin said. "So I turned to my teammates. I said, we're all behind you. So I just went in there with the mindset to go win the game."

Greysen Carter gave up the game-tying home run, but he also pitched four innings overall, including a scoreless 10th and 11th, to collect the win.

Six pitchers appeared, four of whom gave up at least one run. JD Thompson returned from his suspension for use of a foreign substance to pitch two innings, giving up one run with one walk and five strikeouts.

"(Tennessee Tech) hit the ball really well," coach Tim Corbin said. " . . . We knew this was going to be a challenge. We didn't pitch particularly well from the start to deep into the ballgame. We made some mistake with two strikes, made some mistakes with two outs and couldn't get them off the field. So I think offensively they probably did enough in the long run to potentially win the game."

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Ethan McElvain injury update for Vanderbilt baseball

Freshman left-hander Ethan McElvain is set to throw Wednesday in his recovery from a back injury. If all goes well, McElvain could return as soon as this weekend's series against Georgia.

"This week, we'll just have to wait and see," Corbin said. "I'd like to bring him (to Georgia) and I'd like to use him. But we'll just have to see if he can start throwing it tomorrow."

McElvain, who suffered a back injury while warming up to enter a game on April 20, has a 3.38 ERA in 10 appearances this season. The Nolensville High School product has been a key member of the bullpen on weekends and also has made a handful of midweek starts.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball wins on RJ Austin HBP walk-off over Tennessee Tech