NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt blanked Evansville 9-0 Wednesday in a rain-shortened contest that was called in the sixth inning at Hawkins Field.
True freshman Devin Futrell (1-0) made his first collegiate start on the mound and struck out the first six batters he faced. Futrell earned the win, allowing just one hit over four innings, while closing out his outing eight strikeouts.
The Vanderbilt offense combined for eight hits and eight walks against five Evansville arms.
Enrique Bradfield Jr. worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first and followed it up with his 50th career stolen base. After advancing to third, Bradfield Jr. scored the game’s first run on a fielder’s choice.
Vanderbilt took advantage of a pair of Evansville defensive miscues to push two more runs across in the bottom of the second, taking a 3-0 lead.
The Commodores struck again in the third with the help of another error by the Aces. Spencer Jones and Dominic Keegan worked back-to-back walks to lead off the inning and Tate Kolwyck moved the runners over on a sac bunt.
After Jones scored on an error by the Evansville second baseman, Carter Young singled to score Keegan. T.J. McKenzie, making his first start, drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in another run and put Vandy on top, 6-0.
Jones led off the bottom of the fourth with his team-leading fourth double of the season. Jones would score on a Kolwyck single to right field to make it 7-0, Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt increased its lead to 9-0 in the bottom of the fifth, as McKenzie connected on his first career hit in the form of a two-run home run to right field.
Bryce Cunningham preserved the shutout on the mound. The freshman struck out three in two innings of relief work.
Heavy rain led to the game being called with one out in the bottom of the sixth.
Vanderbilt moves to 2-2 and will host Army for a three-game series beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at Hawkins Field. All three games will be streamed on SEC Network+.
