NASHVILLE, Tenn. -Drew Hayes, Nick Christiani, Chase Reid and Russell Brewer combined on a five-hit shutout in an 8-0 win over Morehead State Wednesday night at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores won their fourth straight to improve to 23-13, while the Eagles dropped to 12-20 on the year.
Hayes allowed just three hits in five innings of work with six strikeouts and two walks to improve to 3-2 on the year. Christiani pitched two innings, allowing two hits, with three strikeouts and Reid and Brewer closed out it out with an inning of hitless relief.
“I thought our pitching was good tonight,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin. “It was good to see Drew Hayes in that role and I thought his pace was good and he had good urgency on the mound. He kind of set the tone because after that Christiani, Reid and Brewer did a good job to close it out.”
It was the second shutout in four games for the Dores and the third shutout of the season.
VU took a 2-0 lead in the first on a RBI single by Curt Casali and a fielder’s choice RBI by Jason Esposito. They added another run in the second on a sacrifice fly RBI by Drew Fann.
The Commodores added another run in the fourth on a RBI single by Riley Reynolds. It extended his hit streak to 18 games on the year.
Vanderbilt scored three runs in the sixth, one on a wild pitch, another on a passed ball and a third on a RBI single by Fann to make it 7-0. Joe Loftus closed out the scoring in the seventh with a RBI single to left.
Drew Fann had two hits and two RBI and Aaron Westlake added two hits to lead the 10-hit attack.
“Tonight wasn’t our best hitting performance but at the same time we stole some bases and created opportunities for ourselves,” added Corbin.
Michael Fear lead Morehead State with two hits while Andrew Deeds, Drew Lee and Luke Bainer had a hit each.
Trey Smith was charged with the loss to drop to 0-4 on the year. He gave up three runs, two earned, on three hits in three innings of work with a strikeout and two walks.
The Commodores will be back in Southeastern Conference action this weekend as Alabama comes to town for a three-game set. The teams will open up on Friday at 6 p.m., and will then go on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are available for all three games and can be purchased through www.vucommodores.com or through the Vanderbilt ticket office at (615) 322-GOLD.
Morehead State 000 000 000 -0 5 0
Vanderbilt 210 103 10x -8 10 0
Smith, Bess (4), Morgan (6), Fahs (7), Arnold (7), Bottoms (8) and Bainer. Hayes, Christiani (6), Reid (8), Brewer (9) and Fann. W- Hayes 3-2, L- Smith 3-2. Sv- None.
