NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt used a career-outing from starting pitcher Greysen Carter on Thursday night to take the series opener against Missouri, 3-1.
Carter (W, 3-0) struck out a career-high 11 batters over 8.1 innings, the longest outing of his career. The righty struck out seven of the first nine batters he faced and took a no-hit bit into the fifth inning. Carter didn’t allow an earned run and held Missouri to just three hits.
The Commodores scored three runs on nine hits and were led by RJ Austin and Troy LaNeve, who each went 2-for-4. Austin scored once and drove in a run.
Austin singled with one out in the bottom of the third and, after advancing to second on a groundout, came around to score the game’s first run on a single by Alan Espinal.
Vandy increased its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth. Davis Diaz was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning, moved up to second on a sac bunt and to third on a passed ball. Diaz touched home on a groundout by Austin, giving Austin his team-leading 28th RBI on the season.
Matt Ossenfort, who homered for his first collegiate hit on Tuesday, doubled to start off the bottom of the sixth, Ossenfort scored from second on a single by Jayden Davis to give Vanderbilt a 3-0 lead.
Come for JayJay’s hit.
Stay for Ossy’s reaction. ⤵️ https://t.co/HaPF54jHcc pic.twitter.com/vLjRLLJXAp— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) March 29, 2024
Ryan Ginther relieved Carter with one out in the ninth and recorded his fourth save on the season.
Vanderbilt (21-6, 4-3 SEC) and Missouri (10-16, 1-6 SEC) will meet at 6 p.m. Friday for Game 2 in the series.
