NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt shut out Army 6-0 on Sunday to sweep the weekend series at Hawkins Field. The Commodores picked up their fourth consecutive win to improve to 5-2 on the season.
Nick Maldonado (1-1) earned his first win of the season, working four scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Hunter Owen was the first arm out of the bullpen and he threw career-high four innings. The sophomore southpaw allowed just one hit while tallying six strikeouts. Thomas Schultz retired the side in the ninth on seven pitches to preserve the shutout.
Maldonado worked through a bases-loaded jam in the top of the second to keep Army off the scoreboard. The Black Knights had the bases full with no outs, but Maldonado struck out back-to-back batters before inducing an inning-ending groundout.
The Commodore offense responded in the home half of the second by loading the bases themselves. Parker Noland singled into center field to score Carter Young and Dominic Keegan. Tate Kolwyck tagged from third and gave Vanderbilt a 3-0 lead on a Davis Diaz sacrifice fly to left field.
Enrique Bradfield Jr. drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the fourth before Jack Bulger reached base on an error by the Army shortstop. After a double steal advanced both runners into scoring position, Spencer Jones registered his team-leading fifth double of the season into right-center, scoring both Bradfield and Bulger to increase Vanderbilt’s lead to 5-0.
The score would remain 5-0 until the bottom of the eighth when the Commodores added insurance. With one down in the inning, Bradfield reached on a double down the right field line before advancing to third on a fly out. One batter later, Jones picked up his third RBI of the day with a single through the right side of the infield to score Bradfield and set the score at 6-0, the eventual final.
Keegan went 3-for-4 and reached base in all five of his plate appearances. He currently sits at 99 career hits.
Jones finished 2-for-5 with a team-high three RBIs.
The Commodores host Central Arkansas at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday with action airing on SEC Network +.
