NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Brian Harris and Bryan Johns combined for four hits, five runs and two runs batted in to spark Vanderbilt to a 10-4 win over Lipscomb Tuesday evening at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores improved to 17-4 overall, while the Bisons fell to 6-14.
Vanderbilt starter Chase Reid (3-1) allowed one run on five hits in five innings with three strikeouts to pick up the win.
“I thought Chase had a good, clean outing with no walks,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin. “I thought we were fortunate with our hitting and found some holes. It wasn’t pretty, but we got the job done.”
VU got on the board in the first on a sacrifice fly RBI by Jason Esposito. Brian Harris was hit by a pitch for the 13th time this season to lead off the game. Bryan Johns walked and both runners advanced on a groundout by Aaron Westlake before Esposito hit his fly ball to center.
The Dores made it 3-0 in the third scoring on a RBI double by Connor Harrell and a RBI groundout by Anthony Gomez.
Lipscomb got on the board in the fourth when Zach Messer singled with two outs and scored on a double by Lee Wilson.
VU came back with two of their own in the bottom half to make it 5-1. Brian Harris walked, Bryan Johns singled to right before both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Esposito singled through the right side to score both.
The Bisons plated three runs in the sixth off of reliever Navery Moore to cut the lead to 5-4. Ryan Wilkins had a RBI double and Shawn Mehring added a two-run pinch-hit double to account for the runs.
The leadoff duo got on base again in the bottom half with Brian Harris reaching on a single and Bryan Johns on a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Aaron Westlake’s sacrifice fly brought in Harris and Andrew Giobbi’s two-out single up the middle scored Johns to make it 7-4.
Johns came through again in the seventh plating two with a two-out single to right to extend the lead to 9-4. Anthony Gomez and pinch-hitter Andrew Harris reached on one-out singles and advanced on Brian Harris’ grounder to second. Johns then hit the bloop-double in front of the right fielder to score both runners.
Connor Harrell’s second RBI double of the night made it 10-4 in the eighth.
Johns led the Commodores with three hits, while Harris led the team with three runs scored. Anthony Gomez extended his team-best hitting streak to 14 games, second longest in the SEC this season.
Corey Williams pitched the final three hitless and scoreless innings with four strikeouts to pick up his first collegiate save.
The Commodores will be back in action tomorrow night against Wright State at 6 p.m. The Raiders are 6-9 on the season, including a 2-1 win over No. 1 Virginia on March 5.
