Nashville, Tenn. – Vanderbilt produced its best offensive game of the season in a 17-11 win over crosstown rival Belmont Wednesday night at First Tennessee Park in downtown Nashville.
The two teams traded runs through the first three innings with the Bruins (8-11) owning a 3-1 advantage going into the fourth inning. The Commodores (14-8) took control in the fourth by matching a season-best with seven runs. The rally started thanks to Belmont’s wildness on the mound with Ty Duvall working a walk in front of Ethan Paul and Jeren Kendall being hit by pitches to load the bases. Reed Hayes brought the Dores even with a two-run single to left. Will Toffey put Vandy on top to stay with an inside the park home run to right field. The junior belted a towering fly ball to right field that Belmont right fielder Brennan Washington tracked to the wall before crashing into it. While Washington laid on the warning track, Toffey raced home on the heels of Hayes for his third homer of the season. The Dores offense was not done there, tacking on two more runs in the fourth and using five hits in the fifth to score four more runs as seven straight Commodores reached to push the VU lead to 12-4.
Belmont, however, rallied for seven runs of their own in the sixth to cut the VU lead to two runs. The Bruins scored all seven runs with two outs before Collin Snider could get the Commodores back into the dugout.
Vandy put the game away for good in the eighth with four more runs, capped by a two-run shot off the bat of Julian Infante.
The Dores’ offense put up big numbers for the second game in a row, collecting a season-best 17 hits and scoring a season-best 17 runs. Toffey and Infante led the way with each posting career nights, including four-hit games. Toffey drove in a career-best six runs in the win, the most RBIs from a Commodore since Zander Wiel drove in six against Radford on June 1, 2015 in the NCAA Regional. Infante’s four hits and four runs scored are the most in his career. Kendall, Hayes and Stephen Scott all chipped in two hits apiece.
Chandler Day earned the win with four innings of work. The right-hander gave up four runs on six hits over four innings. The two teams combined to use 15 pitchers in the game that lasted over four hours.
Kyle Conger led Belmont with three hits, two runs and two RBIs. Ben Lovell took the loss after allowing six runs on three hits over one inning of relief.
The Commodores return to Hawkins Field to host Texas A&M this weekend beginning Friday night at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+. Kyle Wright gets the ball for the home team against the Aggies’ Brigham Hill.
