NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt starter Drake Fellows was superb and the offense continued its upsurge as the Commodores took down No. 19 Kentucky, 8-1, in the series opener on Thursday night at Hawkins Field.
Fellows did not allow a hit until the fourth inning and permitted just three on the evening while holding the Wildcats’ high-octane offense in check. The right-hander, who lowered his ERA to 3.81, induced 16 ground outs to just one fly out.
The Commodores (29-24, 14-14 SEC) put runners aboard during five of six innings against Kentucky ace Sean Hjelle, taxing the junior for a season-high 123 pitches, while breaking through with three runs on four hits during the fifth inning.
Philip Clarke (3-for-5) produced the Dores’ first two runs of the game, both coming on RBI-doubles. The latter followed a leadoff single from Austin Martin (1-for-2), scoring the speedster from first on a hit-and-run in the fifth.
Connor Kaiser (2-for-4) drove an RBI-single into right to plate Clarke and Stephen Scott (1-for-4) followed with an RBI-double in the fifth, upping Vandy’s advantage to 4-0.
The Dores added insurance against the bullpen after Hjelle’s departure following the sixth. Pat DeMarco (1-for-4) swatted a hanging breaking ball for a two-run home run over The Monster with one down in the seventh for a 6-0 lead.
An inning later, Julian Infante (2-for-3) led off with a single and came around to score on a Clarke single into right. Kaiser added another with an RBI-single for his team-best 12th multi-RBI performance.
Fellows (6-4) retired 23 of the 26 batters he faced, garnering his second-straight victory, while tossing 100 pitches across 7.1 innings. The sophomore struck out six and did not allow a walk for the first time this season.
Chandler Day closed things out, permitting just one hit and a walk while striking out three in 1.2 scoreless innings. Kentucky (34-19, 13-15 SEC) entered the game batting .300 as a team but was held to one run for just the third time this year.
For a second-straight game, Martin drew a career-high three walks and also set a personal-best with three runs. Clarke matched career highs with three hits and three RBIs while Kaiser and DeMarco each drove in two.
The Commodores look for their fifth win in the last six outings on Friday with the middle game slated for 6:30 p.m. Right-hander Patrick Raby (4-5, 3.43 ERA) will take the mound for Vandy. Kentucky has not announced a starter.
