NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 18 Vanderbilt came out firing in the first inning; scoring four runs on the way to a 9-3 series evening win against No. 17 South Carolina Friday night at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores (40-15, 17-12) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, batting around in the first inning and scoring four runs on five hits. Dansby Swanson reached base after being hit in the foot to leadoff the game, and Xavier Turner singled to put two Dores aboard. Zander Wiel started his big night with a single through the left side of the Gamecocks’ (41-14, 17-12) infield for a 1-0 Vandy lead. Wiel’s single started a streak of four straight singles from the VU lineup that led to a four-run lead. John Norwood’s single scored two runs and Rhett Wiseman’s single capped the rally.
South Carolina, however, crept back into the game with a run in the second and the fifth inning to cut the VU lead to two runs. The Commodores’ offense responded with another four-run inning in the fifth to put the game away. Bryan Reynolds singled with one out in front of Wiel, who launched his team-best fifth home run of the season into the left field bleachers. Two more extra-base hits added the third run of the inning when John Norwood doubled and Rhett Wiseman followed with a triple off the right field wall then scored on Karl Ellison’s infield single.
Vanderbilt starter Carson Fulmer struggled with command much of the night walking a career-high six but picked up his fifth straight win as a starter. Fulmer’s scoreless streak as a starter finally came to an end in the second inning when the right-hander allowed a leadoff single then walked three straight with two outs to force in the Gamecocks’ first run. Fulmer’s scoreless streak as a starter ended at 29.2 innings. The sophomore’s night came to an end in the sixth when Kyle Martin roped a double to right-center to score a run. Hayden Stone entered and quickly worked out of the jam in a two-run game, then shut down the Gamecocks over the final three innings to earn his third save of the season.
Fulmer allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out four to improve to 5-1 on the season. Stone struck out three and scattered three hits over his 3.1 innings.
Wiseman led the way for the Vanderbilt offense with three hits to match a career-best. Wiel drove in three runs and now has 12 RBI in his last eight games. The Murfreesboro, Tenn. native also has four homers over the last 16 games to lead the team. Eight of the nine Commodores in the lineup posted at least one hit with four recording multi-hit games. Martin led South Carolina with four hits in the loss.
Gamecocks’ starter Jack Wynkoop took the loss giving up seven runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings.
Vanderbilt and South Carolina play the rubber match of the series tomorrow at 2 p.m. on CBS SportsNetwork with lots on the line. The Commodores will send right-hander Tyler Ferguson to the mound to face Gamecocks’ right-hander Wil Crowe.
