NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 5 Vanderbilt cruised to a 9-2 win over Quinnipiac on Tuesday night at Hawkins Field.
Jordan Sheffield earned his first career start on a damp night on West End and made the most of it, tossing six scoreless innings to earn his third win of the season. The right-hander allowed a leadoff single to open the game but found himself cruising in the fourth having not allowed another hit. He finally gave up a hit with two outs in the fourth with a runner on second but right-fielder Rhett Wiseman bailed Sheffield out with a perfect throw to nail the runner at home and end the inning. That was the only jam Sheffield faced all night as the redshirt freshman allowed only three runners to reach scoring position.
The Commodores’ (12-4) offense scratched out four runs in the fifth to take the lead. Ro Coleman worked a leadoff walk to start a streak of seven straight Dores to reach base. Wiseman’s fielder’s choice broke up a scoreless game and Zander Wiel’s RBI-single pushed the lead to two runs. Bryan Reynolds then capped the rally with a two-run single through left side to give Vandy all the offense it needed.
The Dores added on with two more runs in the sixth and finished the night off with two more in the eighth on a Wiseman solo homer and a Penn Murfee RBI-double. Wiseman’s team-leading third home run of the season found the seats in left-center field. Both Wiseman and Swanson pushed their hitting streaks to 10 games in the win with Wiseman going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Reynolds and Tyler Campbell also chipped in two hits apiece. For Campbell, it was his fourth multi-hit game of the season after having three multi-hit games all of last season.
Bobcats’ (2-7) leadoff hitter Mike Palladino had three of his team’s six hits in the game to lead the way. Quinnipiac starter Taylor Luciani took the loss allowing three runs on two hits and three walks over four innings.
Vanderbilt hosts Quinnipiac tomorrow night with Tyler Ferguson set to get the start for the home team against lefty Justin Thomas. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
