NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 4 Vanderbilt rolled to a 9-1 win over Tennessee Tech on Tuesday night at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores (17-4) wasted no time, jumping on the Golden Eagles (9-9) for four runs in the first inning and never looked back. Consecutive singles from Ro Coleman and Rhett Wiseman started the rally and a walk to Dansby Swanson quickly loaded the bases. Zander Wiel worked a walk to force in the game’s first run and Bryan Reynolds’ first hit of the night made it 2-0 Vandy. Tyler Campbell capped the rally with his first two-out hit of the night, a two-run single to left field. Campbell later padded the lead in the third with more two-out magic, singling to right field to score Reynolds from second base.
Handed a four-run lead after the first inning, starter Ryan Johnson found his groove to earn his second win of the season. The lefty cruised through the first three innings until a leadoff double in the fourth eventually came around to score on a double play for the Golden Eagles’ lone run of the game. Johnson navigated another double in the fifth to strand the runner at third and stranded another runner in his final inning in the sixth. With six more stellar innings, Johnson has now allowed only two runs over his last 12.1 innings.
Reynolds led the way for the Dores with a season-high three hits, driving in two runs and scoring two more. The sophomore reached base in all four of his plate appearances in the win adding a walk to his three singles. The three hits also stretched his hitting streak to six games. Campbell’s three RBI match his career-best total set last year against Virginia in the College World Series. Campbell finished the night with two hits for his fifth multi-hit game of the season. Coleman and Swanson each added two hits apiece with Swanson scoring two runs and stealing two bases to push his season total to a team-best 10.
Three freshmen finished off the game for the Commodores with Matt Ruppenthal, Collin Snider and Kyle Wright each tossing a scoreless frame apiece. Ruppenthal worked a clean seventh inning, striking out two.
The victory was the Commodores’ 150th over the last 200 games dating back to the 2012 season.
Dylan Bosheers led Tennessee Tech with two hits in the loss. Starter Will Gardner was pegged with the loss giving up five runs on seven hits over 2.2 innings in his first career start.
The Commodores hit the road for the first time in conference play this weekend with a trip to Auburn. The Dores and Tigers tangle Friday night at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
