NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt defeated Evansville 7-3 Wednesday night at Hawkins Field as five Commodore pitchers combined to allow only three hits to the Aces.
Ethan McElvain, Sawyer Hawks, Ryan Ginther (W, 1-0) and Alex Kranzler each tossed two innings for Vanderbilt and Brennan Seiber handled the ninth inning. The five pitchers combined to strikeout 10 batters and none allowed more than one hit.
At the plate, RJ Austin went 3-for-5 and scored twice. The sophomore recorded three of Vanderbilt’s five stolen bases. The first five batters in the Vandy lineup each drove in a run led by Jayden Davis with two RBI.
Vanderbilt struck first Wednesday with a pair of doubles in the first inning. Jacob Humphrey, who homered to leadoff Tuesday’s game, drove a double off the wall in left field to get things going for the Commodores. Camden Kozeal then knocked a ground-rule double left-center, scoring Humphrey from second.
Davis singled home Kozeal with a two-out knock through the right side of the infield to give Vandy an early 2-0 advantage.
Evansville got on the board with an RBI double in the top of the third, cutting Vanderbilt’s lead in half.
The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the fifth. Austin reached on an infield single, stole second, moved up to third on a sac bunt and scored on a fielder’s choice as Vandy went on top 3-1.
The Dores extended their lead with four runs in the bottom of the sixth. Calvin Hewett worked a one-out walk and stole second before Jonathan Vastine singled to put runners on the corners. Humphrey then laid down a safety squeeze, reaching first safely and scoring Hewett from third.
Small ball 😤 pic.twitter.com/PdaUIH7Ox1
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) February 29, 2024
Austin kept things moving with an RBI single to right field, scoring Vastine. In a heads-up play, Humphrey was able to score from third on a dropped third strike, dashing down the line once the catcher threw to first. Alan Espinal capped the inning with single through the left side that brought Austin across the plate, giving Vanderbilt a 7-1 lead.
The Aces hit a solo homer in the top of the seventh, just their second hit on the evening. Evansville added a run in the ninth but Seiber shut the door as Vanderbilt took the 7-3 victory.
Vanderbilt improves to 7-3 on the season and goes on the road for the first time to the Astros Foundation College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. The Commodores will face Louisiana on Friday, Houston on Saturday and Texas on Sunday. All three games will be streamed live without a paywall on Astros.com and on the Astros X, Facebook and YouTube channels.
