NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Top-ranked Vanderbilt used three solo home runs and a strong start from John Kilichowski to beat Wofford 5-3 Wednesday at Hawkins Field and finish the two-game sweep of the Terriers.
The Commodores (24-6) struck in the first inning for the third straight game, scratching out two runs for an early lead. A Rhett Wiseman one-out walk and a Dansby Swanson double off the third base bag set up the inning. Zander Wiel delivered with a sacrifice fly and Bryan Reynolds punched a single through the left side of the infield for the second run.
The Dores used power the rest of the way with three solo homers accounting for the team’s final three runs. Swanson smashed his fifth home run of the season in the third with a towering shot over the left field scoreboard. The shot moved him into a tie with Wiel for the team lead and matched the Commodores’ season team total from all of last year with 22 homers. Wiseman joined the duo in the fifth with a solo shot of his own over the right field bleachers to bump his season total to five. Wiel, though, had the last laugh one batter later, smashing a solo homer over the left field scoreboard to reclaim the team lead with six home runs on the year. Vanderbilt’s 24 homers in 30 games are more than the team’s total (22) from all 72 games of 2014.
Set up with an early lead, Vandy starter John Kilichowski settled in and turned in six strong innings to earn his second win of the year. The lefty was greeted with a leadoff double to start the game but bounced back to strike out the side as part of a string of five consecutive punch outs. Kilichowski’s lone blemish came in the third inning when Wofford’s (23-9) Matt Ramsay hit a solo homer to get the Terriers on the board. Kilichowski responded by retiring the next seven batters before pitching out of a two on, two out jam in the sixth with back-to-back strikeouts to run his total to eight for the night. Ben Bowden worked around a walk in the ninth to earn his first career save.
Ramsay and Mack Nathanson each hit home runs for Wofford in the loss. Terriers’ starter Joran Accetta took the loss giving up five runs on seven hits over 4.1 innings.
The Commodores hit the road for league play this weekend with a trip to Georgia. First pitch on Friday in Athens is set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. Saturday’s game is slated for 1 p.m. CT on SEC Network+ with Sunday’s finale at noon CT on SEC Network.
