NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt claimed a series win over Florida on Friday night at Hawkins Field with a 5-2 victory.
Vanderbilt starting pitcher Carter Holton struck out 10 Gators over seven innings en route to his sixth win on the season. Holton didn’t issue a walk and held Florida to two runs on four hits. The southpaw has recorded 10 or more strikeouts in four of his nine starts this season.
At the plate, the Commodores totaled 10 hits, highlighted by an Alan Espinal home run and four combined doubles by Jayden Davis and Troy LaNeve.
The Commodores scored first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Jonathan Vastine led off with a single and Davis Diaz was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. The duo executed a double steal to both move into scoring position and with two outs, Davis ripped a ground-rule double to left-center to give Vanderbilt a 2-0 lead.
Espinal made it 3-0 with a solo homer in the bottom of the third, his sixth on the season and second in as many games.
Bye bye ball 👋 pic.twitter.com/YXscTPsOzI
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) April 19, 2024
Holton had a perfect game going until the fifth inning. Prior to Florida’s first hit, Holton had struck out seven over the first 4.1 innings and hadn’t allowed a walk.
Florida used a pair of solo homers in the top of the sixth to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to one run.
Ryan Ginther took over on the mound to start the eighth inning and struck out two in a perfect inning.
Looking for insurance, LaNeve put a pair of runners in scoring position with no outs with a ground-rule double with Matthew Polk on first. Colin Barczi scored Polk with a sac fly to record his first collegiate RBI. RJ Austin then singled home Jacob Humphrey, who came on for LaNeve as a pinch runner, to put the Dores in front by three at 5-2.
Reggggiiiiieeeee 😈 pic.twitter.com/0oOhpj4uPh
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) April 20, 2024
Greysen Carter entered the game in the top of the ninth and retired the side to earn his second save in as many games.
With the win, Vanderbilt improves its home win streak to 17 games, a single-season program record. The Commodores sit at 29-10 overall and 10-7 in the SEC. Game 3 against Florida (19-19, 7-10 SEC) is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. on SEC Network+.
