NASHVILE, Tenn. – Patrick Raby took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, leading top-ranked Vanderbilt to a 5-1 victory over Dayton on Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Field.
With the win, the Commodores (8-2) took their second nonconference series of the season. The finale is scheduled for 4:40 p.m. and can be seen on the SEC Network Plus.
Raby (2-0) threw six scoreless innings with a season-high eight strikeouts. He held Dayton (1-5-1) to two hits and moved into sole possession of sixth place in program history with his 24th career victory.
Vanderbilt took the lead in the bottom of the second on Ty Duvall’s sac fly to center field to score Ethan Paul.
JJ Bleday continued his hot hitting with his team-leading fourth home run in the sixth inning to give the Dores a 2-0 lead. The right fielder has homered three times in the last week including two consecutive games.
The Dores scored in consecutive innings between the sixth and seventh. They added one in the sixth on Bleday’s homer and three in the seventh.
Bleday (2-for-3) and Austin Martin (1-for-3) extended their hitting streaks to 20 games. Martin extended his in the seventh with a line drive to center field to drive in one of Vanderbilt’s five runs. Martin has reached base in 25 consecutive games while Bleday has in 38 straight games.
It marked the first 20-game hitting streak for a Vanderbilt player since Xavier Turner had a 27-game hit streak in 2014.
Dayton’s Aaron Ernst (0-2) drew the loss, allowing two runs on five hits while surrendering one walk.
Tyler Brown closed the game out for the Commodores as he pitched the final 2.1 innings. Brown entered in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded and the Dores hanging on to a 2-1 lead. He struck out the only batter he faced to get out of the jam.
