LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 10 Vanderbilt finished off its first series sweep of the season with a 6-2 win over Long Beach State Sunday afternoon at Blair Field.
Freshman Bryan Reynolds led the way for the Commodores (3-0) both at the plate and in the field. Reynolds added to the Vandy lead in the second inning when he followed Vince Conde’s double with a double of his own to make it 2-0. The freshman struck again in the fourth with a RBI-single to score fellow freshman Nolan Rogers, who had led off the inning with a single and stole second base. Reynolds then made it 4-2 Vanderbilt in the top of the seventh with his second double of the day that chased home Zander Wiel, who had led off the frame with a double of his own. Reynolds finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBI at the plate and added a spectacular diving catch in the sixth that saved at least two runs. The Brentwood, Tenn. native finished his first collegiate weekend going 6-for-10 with four RBI.
The Vanderbilt offense pounded out 13 hits on the afternoon with Reynolds and Xavier Turner each recording three-hit games. Turner’s third single of the day knocked in Chris Harvey, who added two hits and two runs to his stellar work behind the plate. Dansby Swanson drove in the Commodores’ other run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth. The Dirtbags (0-3) were held to just five hits on the day and had just 13 in the three-game series.
Vanderbilt starter Tyler Ferguson kept the trend going with the Commodores’ starting pitching early in the season with 5.1 strong innings to earn the win. Ferguson cruised through the first five innings, retiring 11 straight batters until hitting a batter in the fifth. The sophomore ran into trouble in the sixth after his own error on a bunt started the inning. He then hit a batter to give the Dirtbags multiple runners on base for the first time since Friday night’s ninth inning. The Commodores then used three pitchers to get out of the inning but escaped with a two-run lead. Adam Ravenelle and Brian Miller combined to pitch the final 3.1 innings and seal the series sweep.
Ferguson allowed two unearned runs on one hit with no walks and three strikeouts to become the third VU starting pitcher to earn a win over the weekend. Long Beach State starter Ty Provenchar took the loss after giving up four runs on nine hits over 5.2 innings.
Vandy returns home to open Hawkins Field for the 2014 season on Wednesday against Lipscomb. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
