NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt scored runs in each of the first three innings Tuesday night en route to an 8-1 victory over Western Kentucky at Hawkins Field.
Greysen Carter got the start on the bump for the Commodores and held WKU scoreless through four innings, only giving up one hit. The Commodore pitching staff allowed just one run on three hits to the Hilltoppers.
RJ Austin got the scoring going with a two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the first. Enrique Bradfield Jr. led the inning off with a single and RJ Schreck worked a one-out walk to put a pair of Dores on base. Austin hit a line drive to the gap in right-center, allowing Bradfield to score from second and Schreck to score all the way from first.
Vandy added another two-out run in the bottom of the second. Bradfield drew a walk and Davis Diaz sent a double to the corner in left and Bradfield turned on the jets to score from first to put Vandy up 3-0.
Vanderbilt took advantage of a pair of defensive miscues by the Hilltoppers to add on two more runs in the bottom of the third. Matthew Polk singled with two outs and Jonathan Vastine reached on an error to bring Alan Espinal to the plate.
Espinal singled up the middle to bring Polk home from second. Vastine moved up to third and scored on an errant throw from the outfield to make it a 5-0 lead for the Commodores.
Neither team pushed a run across over the next three frames but Vanderbilt once again took advantage of WKU mistakes on defense to plate three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Vastine, Diaz and Schreck all earned walks to load the bases with two outs. A throwing error by the WKU third baseman extended the inning and allowed two runs to come home. Schreck scored on a wild pitch later in the inning to put Vandy on top 8-0.
WKU entered the scoring column with a sac fly in the top of the eighth to cut Vandy’s lead to seven at 8-1.
Jack Anderson took over on the mound for the top of the ninth and struck out two of the three batters he faced to extend Vanderbilt’s win streak to 12 games.
Thomas Schultz (W, 1-1) threw two scoreless frames in relief of Carter and Patrick Reilly registered a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh.
RJ Austin led the Dores with a two-hit night. The freshman drove in a pair of runs as well.
Vanderbilt hits the road for a three-game SEC series at Missouri beginning Thursday. All three games will air on SEC Network+.
