CORVALLIS, Ore. — Vanderbilt used a strong offensive effort combined with stellar pitching to cruise to a 21-1 win over New Mexico State on Saturday afternoon at Goss Stadium in an elimination game at the Corvallis Regional.
The Commodores (37-22) advance to face either San Diego or Oregon State at 3 p.m. CT Sunday in an elimination game. That contest can be seen live on ESPN+.
Vanderbilt built a 4-1 lead through the first three innings Saturday before widening the gap across the middle innings. The Commodores scored in each of the final five frames of the contest to put the game out of reach.
Vandy’s 21 runs Saturday tied for the most in a NCAA Tournament game in program history as the Commodores also scored 21 against Radford on June 1, 2015.
Seven of nine Vanderbilt starters recorded at least one hit with the offense being led by the duo of Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Spencer Jones. Bradfield went 3-for-4 with a team-high four runs scored while Jones posted a four-hit outing and added a career-high seven RBIs. The junior outfielder finished a triple shy of the cycle.
The Commodores received an impressive performance from their starter Chris McElvain (6-5). The junior right-hander tossed seven innings of one-run baseball while allowing six hits and one walk. McElvain struck out 11 batters en route to picking up his sixth win on the season.
Vanderbilt got on the scoreboard with one run in the first. Bradfield led off the ballgame with a single up the middle before Javier Vaz laid down a bunt single to place runners on first and second. After Bradfield tagged up to third on a fly ball to right field, Dominic Keegan brought across the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly to center field to put Vandy in front 1-0.
The Commodores added three in the third to extend their lead to four. Tate Kolwyck reached on a one-out single before Bradfield drew a walk to place two on. One out later, Jones connected on his 10th homer of the season with a three-run shot to right center to push Vanderbilt’s lead to 4-0.
New Mexico State broke into the scoring column with one run in the home half. The Aggies used a one-out single and a wild pitch to place a runner in scoring position. One batter later, a single up the middle plated one run for New Mexico State to make it a 4-1 contest through three innings of action.
Vanderbilt plated 17 runs across the final six innings of the ballgame to seize control.
The Dores plated five runs on three hits in the fifth. Kolwyck led off the frame with a walk before Bradfield reached on a bunt single put a pair of runners on. After a sacrifice bunt advanced both runners to second and third, Jones lined an RBI single to left field to score two.
Keegan kept the inning going reaching on a walk before Parker Noland ripped an RBI double to left field to score the third run of the inning. With runners on second and third, the Commodores executed a double squeeze play, as Calvin Hewett laid down a sacrifice bunt to score two and increase Vandy’s lead to 9-1.
The Dores added two more in the sixth to extend their lead to ten. Kolwyck launched a two-run homer to right field to make it an 11-1 contest.
Vanderbilt put up a single tally in the seventh to push its advantage to 12-1. Jack Bulger connected on his fifth homer on the year with a solo shot to left center.
The Commodores put up nine runs across the final two innings to set the score at 21-1, the eventual final.
