Swept the Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Vanderbilt pulled away late Sunday to finish off its series sweep at Florida with an 11-3 win at Condron Ballpark.

The Commodores scored five runs in the ninth to secure the series finale.

Jonathan Vastine, who homered in Saturday’s win, went 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Rustan Rigdon drove in four runs, including his first collegiate homer, a three-run shot in the ninth. Brodie Johnston reached base three times and scored all three times.

Vastine opened the scoring Sunday with a bloop single behind third base in the top of the second that scored Brodie Johnston from second.

Florida evened the score in the bottom of the third but Vanderbilt quickly retook the lead.

Riley Nelson singled to lead off the top of the fourth and Johnston walked. Mac Rose was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out.

After a Florida pitching change, Colin Barczi singled to bring home Nelson from third. Back-to-back sacrifice flies scored Johnston and Rose, respectively, as Vastine and Rigdon each picked up an RBI.

Vandy took its 4-1 lead to the bottom of the fifth where the Gators hit back-to-back solo home runs to cut the Dores’ lead to one.

Vandy loaded the bases in the top of the seventh. A double play limited the damage but did allow the Commodores to score a run. A second run came home on a balk to restore Vandy’s three-run advantage.

Florida brought the tying run to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, but Levi Huesman, in his second inning of work on the mound, escaped the jam without a run coming in.

Nelson launched a solo homer to right field in the top of the ninth, his third on the season.

The inning continued Johnston followed with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout. Barczi then singled to left, scoring Johnston.

Vastine collected his fourth hit of the game with a line-drive single to right, bringing Rigdon to the plate with two on base.

The freshman then clubbed his first collegiate home run, a three-run blast to right to make it 11-3.

The Commodores used six pitchers in the win. Brennan Seiber threw two scoreless innings followed by Matthew Shorey. Shorey earned the win with 1.1 innings of work. He allowed one run on two hits. Luke Guth, Connor Fennell and Huesman took the game to the eighth where Tommy O’Rourke took over.

O’Rourke held Florida scoreless over the final two innings to earn his second save on the season.

The series marks Vanderbilt’s first sweep at Florida in program history. The Commodores improve to 24-8 on the season and 7-5 in the SEC. The Dores return home to host Dayton on Tuesday at Hawkins Field.