NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt used a four-run first and a five-run fourth to get past Wofford 10-7 Wednesday night at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores won their eighth straight game (7-0 on home stand) to move to 23-4 overall, while the Terriers fell to 8-17.
“I thought we had 10 at bats where mentally we weren’t as locked in as we needed to be and didn’t expand the lead like I thought we were capable of doing,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin. “You have to give them some credit as well. Their pitchers did a good job of limiting our at-bats and they were tough to put away at the platetonight, especially with two outs.”
Vanderbilt built a 9-1 lead through four, before Wofford plated three runs in the fifth and sixth innings to cut the lead to 9-7. That was as close as the Terriers would get as Richie Goodenow pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief and Russell Brewer closed it out with two shutout innings to pick up his fourth save of the year.
“It’s just older experienced guys who know what to do when the game is on the line,” said Corbin about Goodenow and Brewer. “You can usually count on those two because they throw strikes and theydon’t beat themselves.”
Right-hander Navery Moore (2-0) picked up the win in a pitch-count limit outing, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
VU took a 4-0 lead in the first with Jason Esposito coming up with the key hit in the frame, a two-run single to centerfield.
Wofford got on the board in the third on a RBI double by Mac Doyle.
The Dores added five runs in the fourth with Brian Harris coming up with the big hit, a three-run homer over the scoreboard in left field. Esposito added a RBI single to cap off the inning to make it 9-1.
The Terriers had three consecutive doubles to lead off the fifth by Matt Moore, James Foster and Josh McKinney to cut two runs off of the deficit. Kyle Behrendt added a sacrifice fly RBI to close the gap to 9-4.
Landon Bennett led off the sixth with a homer and Foster added a two-run double to put the Terriers within two at 9-7.
Vanderbilt added a final run in the eighth when Connor Harrell scored on a wild pitch to make it 10-7.
Brian Harris led the Dores with two hits, two runs and three RBI. Jason Esposito also had two hits and three RBI in the win.
The Commodores will travel to Gainesville to take on Florida in a three-game series over the weekend. The teams will open on Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT and will continue on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT and Sunday at Noon CT.
“They’re a power hitting team with a lot of live bats in their lineup,” said Corbin about facing Florida. “They pitch well and their fielding almost .980 as a team so they’re good all the way around. Preston Tucker and Austin Maddox are very powerful kids who can do some damage at the plate.”
