NASHVILLE — The Western Kentucky baseball team’s success against SEC competition this season ran into a roadblock Tuesday night.

Two shaky innings cost the Hilltoppers (24-21) a fourth win against the league, as they fell 6-1 at No. 6 Vanderbilt’s Hawkins Field.

WKU came into the game 3-0 against SEC foes this year with road wins at Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia.

“I thought we competed really well,” WKU coach John Pawlowski said. “That’s the one thing, is that you come down here or wherever you play, and you’ve got to go out and compete. We competed, but we didn’t execute at a high level.”

The Tops weren’t overwhelmed early by the Commodores (35-10), who reached the College World Series championship series a year ago.

In fact, WKU struck the first blow with a run in the first inning – an RBI single by redshirt sophomore first baseman Harrison Scanlon to score redshirt junior left fielder Leiff Clarkson – and made it stand until Vanderbilt responded with three runs in the bottom of the third.

The big swing was a two-run triple by Vandy’s Julian Infante that lifted his squad back in front. Infante then scored on Walker Grisanti’s RBI single off WKU junior starter Cody Coll.

The Commodores tacked on three more in the eighth inning with an RBI double by Infante and two runs on a fielder’s choice and error on a play at the plate.

“My goodness, 6 2/3 innings for Cody – great job for him today to give us a chance to win,” Pawlowski said. “Unfortunately we weren’t able to muster too much offensively. They pitch extremely well and have a very good staff.”

Outside of Vanderbilt’s key inning, Coll turned in one of his best efforts.

The right-hander lasted a career-high 6 2/3 innings and also tied a career high with four strikeouts. He allowed five hits, three runs and two walks over 93 pitches – his second-most of the season.

After giving up three runs in the third, Coll retired 11 batters in a row into the seventh before allowing a two-out double.

“That one bad inning, I think that really kind of got me going after that,” Coll said. “I realized I needed to start making some better pitches. If you leave anything up to a great team like that, they’re going to do damage. I settled in after that.”

Sophomore Logan Weins and junior Sam Higgs combined to give up three runs – two earned – over a combined one-third of an inning after relieving Coll. Freshman Evan Acosta pitched a final scoreless inning.

There wasn’t much offensive support behind the hurlers. WKU had six hits – two by Scanlon – and went 2-for-13 with runners on base, including 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

The Hilltoppers were without junior right fielder Paul Murray, who Pawlowski said was absent because of a violation of team rules.

Vanderbilt credited the win to freshman pitcher Matt McGarry, who tossed the opening three innings in his first career college start.

Coll’s extended start lightened the load for the WKU bullpen ahead of its upcoming Conference USA road series against another ranked foe, No. 25 Southern Miss.

The Golden Eagles were ranked 19th in the RPI as of Tuesday. Vanderbilt was 12th.

“I knew going in that our bullpen guys for us have been working their tail off every weekend, so I just wanted to get as many innings as I could under my belt tonight and help them out for the big series we have coming up,” Coll said.

WKU comes into the series tied for sixth in the C-USA standings with two series remaining after the trip to Southern Miss. The top eight teams from the league advance to the conference tournament, which is also in Hattiesburg, Miss.

This weekend’s series begins at 6 p.m. Friday at USM.

“The schedule’s a challenge,” Pawlowski said. “Southern Miss has been playing extremely well all year. We’ve got to keep our nose to the grindstone … and looking forward to the challenge.”

— Follow Assistant Sports Editor Zach Greenwell on Twitter @zach_greenwell or visit bgdailynews.com.