NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 9 Vanderbilt claimed the series vs. No. 18 Auburn with a 13-5 win Saturday at Hawkins Field.
Head coach Tim Corbin recorded his 900th win at Vanderbilt as the Commodores moved to 17-3 on the season and 2-0 in SEC action.
9️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 🏆 pic.twitter.com/O5GdFM3bd4
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) March 16, 2024
The first three batters in the lineup for Vanderbilt reached base 15 times as RJ Austin, Davis Diaz and Alan Espinal went 10-for-13 with eight RBI, six runs scored, a home run, two doubles, three walks and two hit-by-pitches.
On the mound, Vanderbilt got another strong performance from its starting pitcher. Bryce Cunningham moved to 3-0 on the season with five innings of work, holding Auburn to one earned run on four hits with five strikeouts.
Like Friday’s game, Auburn took a first-inning lead. The Tigers plated a pair of runs on one hit and an error to go up 2-0.
Austin cut Auburn’s lead in half with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first, his second on the season. Diaz and Espinal hit back-to-back singles and Colin Barczi walked to load the bases.
Jayden Davis’ bat stayed hot with an RBI single to tie the game. The Dores got a third run on a fielder’s choice by Troy LaNeve to lead 3-2 at the end of the first.
Auburn pulled even at 3-3 on a solo home run by Cooper McMurray in the top of the fourth.
The Dores quickly retook the lead in the home half of the inning on an RBI single from Diaz that scored Jonathan Vastine.
Vanderbilt started to pull away with seven runs over the fifth and sixth innings. LaNeve walked to start off the bottom of the fifth and Hewett reached base safely on a one-out infield single. After Vastine was hit to load the bases, Austin singled to center field, scoring LaNeve.
Espinal then cleared the bases with a two-out double to the gap in left-center, scoring Hewett, Vastine and Austin.
Bases clearing double‼️#VandyBoys lead, 8-3. pic.twitter.com/pEk96yK6Bw
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) March 16, 2024
Davis walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth and advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a groundout. With two outs, Hewett knocked in Davis with a single and Vastine tripled to plate Hewett. Austin made it 11-3 with an RBI single that plated Vastine.
Auburn took advantage of a second Vanderbilt error and scored two runs on two hits in the top of the seventh to cut Vandy’s lead to 11-5.
The Dores added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Espinal and an RBI double by Camden Kozeal to make it 13-5.
Miller Green, Alex Kranzler and Ryan Ginther handled the final four innings out of the bullpen with Ginther throwing two scoreless innings.
Vanderbilt’s offense has scored double-digit runs in three consecutive games. Vandy has scored 10 or more runs nine times this season. The Dores’ matched their season-high with 17 hits in the win.
The Commodores have won 12 in a row and will go for the series sweep Sunday against Auburn at 1 p.m. at Hawkins Field.
