Nashville, Tenn. – No. 2 Vanderbilt used an outstanding start from sophomore Philip Pfeifer to beat crosstown rival Belmont 9-3 Tuesday night at Rose Park.
The left-hander dominated from the outset on a cold, windy night facing the minimum through the first three innings allowing only one hit with four strikeouts. Pfeifer was finally touched for a run in the fifth inning when Belmont (3-1) outfielder Drew Turner hit a solo home run to lead off the inning. However, Pfeifer responded by striking out the next four batters he faced. The Knoxville, Tenn. native worked into the seventh recording his 10th strikeout to become the first Commodore hurler to post double digit strikeouts in a game since Taylor Hill punched out 13 Belmont players in the NCAA Regional at Hawkins Field. Pfeifer (1-0) finished the night allowing one run on four hits with three walks over 6.2 innings to earn his first collegiate win.
While Pfeifer was carving up the Bruins’ offense Tony Kemp was doing the same to the Bruins’ pitching, posting his second career five-hit game to become the first Dore to collect five hits in a game since he did it at South Carolina in 2011. Kemp led off the game with a double down the left field line and came around to score on a RBI-groundout from Conrad Gregor as the Commodores put two runs on the board in the first for an early lead. After a single in the third, Kemp followed up in the fourth with a RBI-single and added another base hit in the sixth. The speedy infielder finished his night by roping a double off the right field wall to finish a perfect 5-for-5. Kemp teamed up with freshman Xavier Turner to go 8-for-10 from the top two spots in the Vandy lineup with the first six spots in the lineup going a combined 17-for-23 (.739) and driving in nine runs. Turner’s three-hit night set a new career-best for the freshman, who now has two multi-hit games in his first four games of his career.
Spencer Navin, Mike Yastrzemski, Connor Harrell and Vince Conde all had two-hit nights for the Dores in the victory. Drew Turner paced Belmont with two hits and two RBI. Belmont starter Dan Ludwig (0-1) was pinned with the loss giving up five runs on seven hits over four innings.
Vanderbilt returns to action tomorrow afternoon at Hawkins Field with the first-ever meeting with Central Arkansas. Freshman Walker Buehler is scheduled to make his collegiate debut against UCA’s right-hander Clint Green. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.
