NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt second baseman Ethan Paul belted two home runs and Commodore pitching limited Evansville to four hits in a 6-1 victory on Tuesday night at Hawkins Field.
The No. 10 Commodores (23-14) managed just six hits but made the most of opportunities, putting across four runs with two down including a two-run homer from Paul to ignite the scoring in the third.
Making his first career start, redshirt freshman Reid Schaller (1-0) was masterful, retiring all nine batters he faced while striking out four in the win. The bullpen followed suit as four Commodore relievers held the Purple Aces to 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Vanderbilt doubled its lead in the sixth as Jayson Gonzalez rocketed a two-out, two-run single through the left side to make it 4-0. The base knock came in the freshman’s first appearance in 10 days and marked his sixth multi-RBI performance.
After Evansville (6-24) scratched one across on a groundout in the seventh, the Dores answered back in the eighth, highlighted by a leadoff homer from Paul. It marked the second career multi-home run game for Paul and first for a Commodore player since Gonzalez did so against UMass-Lowell on Feb. 24.
Four batters later, Gonzalez brought in pinch-runner Kiambu Fentress on a fielder’s choice groundout. The Covina, Calif., native matched Paul with three RBIs on the day as part of a 1-for-3 outing.
Aaron Brown allowed just one hit in two innings of scoreless relief for Vandy while Zach King and Paxton Stover tossed an inning of relief, permitting just one hit each.
The win was the sixth in the last seven games for the Commodores, who look to continue the hot streak on Thursday when they open a three-game set at Missouri. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU.
