Nashville, Tenn. – Louisiana Tech jumped on Vanderbilt early Wednesday night and coasted to a 9-3 win over the Commodores at Hawkins Field.
With two outs in the first inning the Bulldogs rallied for three runs and never looked back. Tyler Qualls’ RBI-double with the bases loaded scored the first two runs and Austin Hedges’ smart base running allowed him to score the third run on a run down of on an eventual caught stealing. The Commodores answered in the bottom of the first when Anthony Gomez scored from second on Conrad Gregor’s RBI-double down the right field line and later cut the lead to 5-3 in the sixth inning on Mike Yastrzemski’s two-run home run over the center field fence. Louisiana Tech then scored four runs over the final three frames to put the game away.
Louisiana Tech freshman starter Phil Maton earned the win pitching seven solid innings. The right-hander struck out eight and allowed three runs on five hits over seven innings. Vanderbilt starter Brian Miller was tagged with the loss allowing five runs, three earned, on five hits over two innings. Lefty Philip Pfeifer worked a career-long 4.2 innings out of the bullpen giving up one run on three hits with three strikeouts.
Gregor paced the Commodores with two hits on the night with Gomez scoring two of the team’s three runs. Tony Kemp added a single and a defensive highlight with his diving catch in the third inning that robbed Qualls of a base hit. Yastrzemski added another web gem in the fourth throwing out Beau Bayliss at first base from right field. Ryan Gebhardt led the Bulldogs with four hits and three RBI with Qualls driving in two runs and collecting three hits.
Vanderbilt returns to action Friday afternoon when Rhode Island visits Hawkins Field. Game time for Friday is 4 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m.
