NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt baseball used a strong start from Devin Futrell and an impressive finish from Nick Maldonado to beat UCLA 2-1 Sunday, taking the series against the visiting Bruins at Hawkins Field.
Futrell (2-0) threw five scoreless innings and only gave up two hits while striking out four to earn his second win in as many starts.
Vanderbilt struck first on offense with a pair of hits in the second inning. Jonathan Vastine singled with one out and Davis Diaz followed with a two-run shot to left, giving the Dores a 2-0 lead. The home run was the third of his career and first on the season.
Enrique Bradfield Jr. made history in the bottom of the third. The junior singled and then swiped second for his 97th career stolen base, passing Charles DeFrance (1980-82) for the program record.
UCLA entered the scoring column in the top of the sixth. Andrew Dutkanych IV took over on the mound for Vanderbilt and UCLA used a double and a walk to set up an RBI single by Darius Perry. Dutkanych struck out the next two batters to strand a pair of Bruins and keep Vandy on top, 2-1.
Senior Nick Maldonado (S, 2) took the mound in the seventh and slammed the door on UCLA with a three-inning save. Maldonado struck out eight of the 11 batters he faced and only allowed one hit.
Sunday marked Maldonado’s 11th career save.
No. 10 Vanderbilt improves to 5-3 while No. 17 UCLA falls to 5-2. The Commodores are home again Tuesday to host Austin Peay at 4:30 p.m. CT with action airing on SEC Network+.
