Nashville, Tenn. — No. 3 Vanderbilt beat UT Martin 11-6 in a rain-shortened game Tuesday night at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores (4-0) and Skyhawks (2-3) opened the game in a light rain that increasingly picked up, eventually stopping the game for nearly one hour in the top of the fifth and eventually washing out the game in the bottom of the frame.
UT Martin drew first blood in the first inning with a pair of singles to go along with a hit batter by freshman Chandler Day, who was making his collegiate debut. Vanderbilt, however, immediately answered in the bottom of the inning with two runs to take the lead and never really looked back. Jeren Kendall drew a one-out walk and started a rally on his own stealing second and third on back-to-back pitches before tying the game on a wild pitch. Jason Delay’s sacrifice fly gave VU the lead two batters later.
The Skyhawks fought back in the top of the fifth inning, taking advantage of the Dores’ bullpen. Joey Abraham walked the two batters he faced before being lifted for Collin Snider. The sophomore struggled out of the gate, hitting the first batter he faced before sandwiching a strikeout in between walks to force in two runs. A failed double play plated another run and it appeared UT Martin was going to cut the VU lead to a single run on a double by Josh Hauser into the right field corner but Tyler Campbell’s relay throw from Kendall nailed the runner at the plate to end the inning.
The Commodores took advantage of two UT Martin errors in the bottom of the inning to score three runs and set the final score.
Day picked up the win in the shortened game allowing two runs on three hits over four innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked two in his collegiate debut. Day struck out two in the second and two more in the third before allowing a two-out walk in the fifth to come around to score on a double.
UT Martin starter Jake Patzner took the loss allowing eight runs on five hits in 2.2 innings. Hauser led the Skyhawks with two RBI-doubles.
Vanderbilt returns to action tomorrow afternoon against Eastern Illinois at 4 p.m. at Hawkins Field.
