NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt opened Southeastern Conference play with a 10-0 win over Mississippi State Friday night at Hawkins Field.
Sonny Gray dominated over 7.1 innings to earn his fifth win of the year. The junior right-hander fanned 10 Bulldogs, scattered four hits and walked four in his fifth start of the year. He worked into eighth striking out his final batter of the night before turning it over to the bullpen. Corey Williams and T.J. Pecoraro finished off the Dores’ second shutout of the year.
The Vanderbilt offense cranked out 10 hits and took advantage of five Mississippi State errors. A pair of freshman playing in their first SEC game paced the offense with Tony Kemp and Conrad Gregor each collecting two hits on the night. Eight of the nine VU starters had at least one hit and seven different Commodores drove in a run led by Curt Casali’s two RBI. The Vandy offense scored four runs in the second inning to claim the lead and blew the game open with a three-run fourth inning to take an 8-0 lead.
Mississippi State starter Devin Jones took the loss allowing eight runs, six earned, on eight hits in 3.1 innings. Reliever Tim Statz gave up two unearned runs in 4.1 innings of relief.
The Commodores and Bulldogs square of tomorrow afternoon at Hawkins Field with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. Lefty Grayson Garvin gets the nod for the Dores against Mississippi State right-hander Chris Stratton.
