BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 7 Vanderbilt run-ruled No. 18 LSU on Saturday, 13-3, to win Game 3 and claim the series at Alex Box Stadium.
Vanderbilt scored the game’s first five runs and scored in all eight innings. The run support proved plenty as starting pitcher Carter Holton turned in his fourth consecutive quality start.
The southpaw tossed 6.0 innings and allowed two earned runs while striking out 10. Holton has 10 or more strikeouts in three of his last five starts and has eight or more strikeouts in six of seven starts this season.
At the plate, Braden Holcomb homered twice and drove in five runs on a 3-for-5 day. Jayden Davis went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Vandy totaled 14 hits and seven of the nine starters tallied an RBI.
Back-to-back doubles by Camden Kozeal and Alan Espinal got things going in the top of the first with Espinal’s double scoring Kozeal.
In the top of the second, Davis led off the frame with Vandy’s third double on the day. Holcomb then hit a ball 466 feet to left field, clearing the scoreboard at Alex Box Stadium and adding two Vanderbilt runs to it.
Holcomb leaves The Box‼️ 🤯
💣 466 ft ☄️111 MPH pic.twitter.com/hjk1ETRJEa
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) April 6, 2024
The Dores added on in the top of the third with some small ball. Espinal was hit by a pitch and Matthew Polk singled to the shortstop to put two on with nobody out. With both runners on the move, Davis Diaz singled to left field and Espinal came around to score from second and Polk moved from first to third. With two outs, Calvin Hewett made it 5-0 with an RBI single to the shortstop, bringing home Polk.
LSU got on the board in the bottom of the third, plating a run on a throwing error to cut Vandy’s lead to four.
Vandy extended its lead with two more runs in the fourth. RJ Austin worked a leadoff walk and Kozeal was hit by a pitch. After a double steal, Polk singled through the left side to score Austin. Kozeal then touched home on a wild pitch to give the Dores a 7-1 lead.
After Davis ripped a double to lead off the fifth, Holcomb picked up his third RBI on the game with a single up the middle to put Vandy on top 8-1.
Holcomb’s big day continued in the top of the sixth. Espinal and Polk worked back-to-back walks and moved up 90 feet on a sac bunt. After a sac fly from Davis scored Espinal, Holcomb blasted his second home run on the day to give the Dores an 11-1 advantage.
To the bleachers 🫡 pic.twitter.com/efm2ZHBsYP
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) April 6, 2024
LSU got two runs back on a home run in the bottom of the inning to make it 11-3, but the Commodores kept adding to the scoreboard in the top of the seventh. Jonathan Vastine walked and moved to third on a single by Austin. Kozeal plated Austin on a groundout to put Vandy up 12-3.
Vandy entered run-rule territory in the eighth on an RBI single by Davis that scored Polk to make it a 13-3 game.
Miller Green tossed two scoreless innings in relief of Holton. Green registered four strikeouts and allowed just one hit.
Vanderbilt improves to 25-7 overall and 8-4 in the SEC. The Commodores return home to host Middle Tennessee on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Hawkins Field.
