The Stanford baseball team fought hard against the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville last weekend, but a little bad luck came the Cardinal’s way as it dropped the first two games, 2-1 and 8-7, before winning Sunday’s contest, 5-2.

The No. 8 Cardinal (4-3) performed well against the strong pitching staff of the No. 3 Commodores (7-1) all weekend, but even though it outscored and outhit the Commodores for the series, Stanford didn’t have quite enough to capture its second series win in as many weeks.

Sophomore righty Mark Appel went out first for the Cardinal on a cold Friday night, where he squared off against Sonny Gray, a right-hander who is expected to be a first-round pick in this spring’s MLB draft.

Both pitchers went a full six innings, with Appel giving up two runs on seven hits, but he couldn’t outduel Gray, who weaseled past the Cardinal lineup without his best stuff, giving up only one run on three hits.

Stanford’s offense was frustratingly ineffective against Gray, who walked four but stuck out six even though he was missing the strike zone on many first pitches and struggled with command in general, despite his impressive stat line.

The worst day went to freshman right fielder Austin Wilson, who had three strikeouts and grounded into a double play–a particularly surprising result considering that the top recruit had four RBI and a home run last weekend against Rice.

Saturday’s game was completely opposite to Friday’s contest, as both teams clobbered the baseball on a sunny afternoon, with Stanford and Vandy combining for 30 hits (with 17 hits for the Card) and 15 runs.

Stanford jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Commodores came back strong, knocking sophomore starter Dean McArdle out of the game after just one and one-third inning. They rallied to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the third inning behind first baseman Aaron Westlake’s missile home run to right field that traveled well over 380 feet.

Stanford then battled back to score two runs apiece in the fourth and fifth innings thanks to three RBI from sophomore shortstop Kenny Diekroeger, who went 4-for-5 on the game and helped the Card back to a 7-4 lead with four innings to go.

Then it all fell apart for Stanford due to two unfortunate bits of luck. Junior lefty Scott Snodgress came in to get the last out of the fifth inning and looked like he would get out of the sixth unscathed. That is, until sophomore second baseman Eric Smith dropped a ground ball for his second error of the day, which let a run score to cut the lead to 7-5.

The mistake opened the door for Commodore shortstop Jason Esposito, who hit a slow roller up the second base line that hit the bag, flipped over Cardinal third baseman Stephen Piscotty’s head and ended up as a two-RBI double to tie the game at seven.

Freshman right-hander A.J. Vanegas came in during the eighth inning, and it looked like he would get out of the eighth safely after Snodgress let a runner reach base. But a potential double-play throw from freshman second baseman Lonnie Kauppila arrived just a second too late and the Cardinal lost the lead again, 8-7, on the fielder’s choice.

Stanford’s final chance to rally in the top of the ninth was snuffed out when righty Navery Moore blazed his way through three batters, firing nothing but fastballs to complete his third save of the year, an 8-7 Commodore victory that clinched the series win for Vanderbilt.

The Cardinal needed to save face on Sunday after two tough losses, so it turned to junior Jordan Pries. The right-hander got his first win on the season on Tuesday by pitching four scoreless innings against the Cal Bears in a 3-2 win.

Pries was nothing short of spectacular the second time around, no-hitting the Commodores through the first four innings and cruising through seven full innings (the longest outing for a Cardinal starter all season). He gave up only three hits and two runs.

Pries also got some help from the offense, with senior designated hitter Ben Clowe and sophomore Stephen Piscotty knocking back-to-back home runs in the top of the second inning to grab an early lead, with Piscotty’s shot clearing the left field wall and crashing into the roof of Vanderbilt basketball stadium over 400 feet away.

Stanford let the Commodores get close–two Vandy runs in the bottom of the fifth cut the lead to 3-2–but some effective small-ball pushed two more runs across in the sixth and eighth innings. The Cardinal had junior Chris Reed close out the 5-2 win.

The Commodores handed the Cardinal its first series loss of the season, but the win on Sunday, coupled with Tuesday’s victory over Cal, helped Stanford to a 2-2 record in the second week of the season.

The Cardinal returns home on Tuesday evening to take on the Santa Clara Broncos in a 5:30 p.m. game before it travels to Austin to battle the No. 6 Texas Longhorns in a three-game series starting on Friday night.