Starting Off 1-0

PHOENIX — Vanderbilt opened the season with a 4-3 win at Grand Canyon on Friday night in front of a record crowd at GCU Ballpark at the MLB Desert Invitational.

The Commodores put runs on the board in three of the first four innings and held off a late rally by the Antelopes to move to 1-0 on the season.

RJ Austin sent the first pitch of the campaign down the left-field line for a double and came around to score on a single by Riley Nelson in his first at-bat as a Commodore.

The Dores struck again in the second inning after Braden Holcomb was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame. Freshman Rustan Rigdon collected his first hit, extra-base hit and RBI in his first collegiate plate appearance to score Holcomb all the way from first on a double. Austin followed with a one-out single to bring home Rigdon and give Vandy an early 3-0 advantage.

First collegiate plate appearance ✅
First hit ✅
First RBI ✅@RustanRigdon | @MLBNetwork pic.twitter.com/Z4P2bUMjsU

— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) February 15, 2025

A sacrifice fly from Jayden Davis plated Rigdon with one out in the top of the fourth to make it a 4-0 game.

While the offense was building a lead, JD Thompson was handling things on the mound en route to a scoreless outing on Opening Day. The southpaw totaled six strikeouts over 4.2 innings and held the Lopes to three hits.

Grand Canyon pushed three runs across in the bottom of the sixth to cut Vandy’s lead to one, but Sawyer Hawks tossed three shutdown innings to move the game to the ninth with the Commodores still on top.

Hawks allowed just two hits and struck out five to earn the win.

Miller Green took over on the mound in the bottom of the ninth and worked around one hit to earn his fourth career save.

Austin led the offense with a 3-for-5 day, scoring once and driving in a run. Nelson and Davis also tallied multiple hits and Rigdon reached base three times including two hit-by-pitches, scoring twice.

With the win, Vanderbilt moves to 1-0 for the 10th time since 2013. The 16th-ranked Commodores will face No. 24 Nebraska on Saturday at Salt River Fields at the MLB Desert Invitational continues.

First pitch vs. the Cornhuskers is set for 7 p.m. and will air on MLB Network and stream on MLB.com.