NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt baseball team used three home runs to defeat Western Kentucky, 7-4, on Tuesday night at Hawkins Field.
Vanderbilt used the long ball to gain an early lead. After Davis Diaz scored the game’s opening run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Spencer Jones, Jack Bulger clubbed a two-run shot to left-center to make it 3-0.
The Commodores went deep again in the second. This time Carter Young launched a line drive over the wall in center for his fifth home run on the season to put the Vanderbilt up 4-0.
Vandy starter Devin Futrell (7-0) went 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out seven to pick up his team-leading seventh win on the campaign. The freshman southpaw sat down the first 11 Hilltoppers he faced.
Western Kentucky broke into the scoring column in the top of the fifth, using a two-run homer to cut Vandy’s lead in half and make it a 4-2 ballgame.
The Commodores got both runs back in the home half to go back up by four at 6-2. Jonathan Vastine singled and Enrique Bradfield Jr. worked a walk to put two on with one out. Dominic Keegan singled up the middle to score Vastine, before Bradfield came home on a fielder’s choice by Jones.
Western Kentucky struck for two runs on an RBI double in the top of the seventh to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 6-4.
Keegan blasted Vanderbilt’s third home run of the game in the bottom of the seventh. Keegan’s solo shot set the score at 7-4, the eventual final.
Grayson Moore, Nelson Berkwich, Thomas Schultz and Christian Little all saw action out of the bullpen. Schultz and Little each threw scoreless frames with Little recording the final three outs in the ninth for his first career save.
The Commodores push their home midweek win streak to 28 games. Vandy hosts No. 23 Florida for a three-game series beginning at 6 p.m. Friday on ESPN2.
