NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt handed No. 4 Texas its first shutout of the season Saturday, winning 6-0 to even the series at Hawkins Field.
Freshman Aiden Stillman made his second collegiate start and struck out six Longhorns over 3.2 innings. Junior Luke Guth took on the next 2.1 innings and held the Longhorns to just one hit with four punchouts. Another true freshman, Tyler Baird, earned his fifth save with three scoreless frames to close out the win.
The three arms combined to strike out 14 Longhorns while holding the visiting side to five hits.
The Commodores wasted no time on offense, clubbing a home run, triple and two doubles in the top of the first to take a 3-0 lead. Mike Mancini led off the inning with a two-bagger and scored on a triple by Brodie Johnston.
Braden Holcomb then launched his 13th home run of the season, a no-doubter to left-center to give the Dores a three-run lead.
Vandy added on in the third with two more extra-base hits. Holcomb led off with a single and moved to third on a double by Colin Barczi. With one out, Holcomb came home on a groundout. Ryker Waite made it 5-0 with an RBI triple to the gap in right-center.
The Commodores plated their sixth run of the night on an error in the bottom of the seventh as Mancini hustled home on a dropped throw to first base.
Holcomb finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Mancini also scored twice and went 2-for-4 at the plate. As a team, the Commodores totaled 11 hits to Texas’ five.
Vanderbilt (26-18, 10-10 SEC) and No. 4 Texas (31-9, 13-6 SEC) will meet Sunday for the rubber match at noon on ESPN2.
