CARY, N.C. – The Vanderbilt baseball claimed an 8-4 victory over Richmond on Saturday morning at the USA Baseball Training Complex in a fall exhibition matchup.
The two teams traded runs throughout the early parts of the seven-inning contest, resulting in a 3-3 tie after four innings of play. The Commodores scored three in the sixth to seize control en route to earning the 8-4 win.
Vanderbilt used three pitchers in the contest with sophomore Hunter Owen getting the start. Owen worked three innings allowing three runs on three hits while picking up five strikeouts. Thomas Schultz followed with two scoreless frames yielding two hits and striking out one.
Devin Futrell closed out the game covering the final two innings. The freshman surrendered one run on one hit while striking out two batters.
The Commodores struck first in Saturday’s matchup by plating a pair of runs in the top of the first. Enrique Bradfield Jr. led off the game with a single through the left side before Davis Diaz and Parker Noland followed with a pair of walks to load the bases. One batter later, Dominic Keegan connected on a two-run double to score the game’s first runs and put the Commodores in front 2-0.
Richmond answered back with a run of its own in the bottom half as the inning began with a lead-off single followed by a walk to place runners on first and second. One out later, a single through the right side brought one run across to make it a 2-1 contest after one inning of play.
The Spiders scored two in the third to take the lead. The inning began with a hit-by-pitch followed by a walk to place runners on first and second. One batter later, a RBI double to left center plated one run to even the score at two apiece.
Richmond added one more in the frame on a RBI groundout to take a 3-2 lead after three frames of action.
Vandy scored six runs across the final four innings to move ahead starting with single tallies in both the fourth and fifth. Spencer Jones led off the fourth with a walk before moving into scoring position on a stolen base.
After Jones advanced to third on a flyout to right, Troy LaNeve sent a sacrifice fly to deep left field to bring Jones across and even things at three apiece.
With one down in the fifth, Diaz worked a full count before reaching on a walk. The freshman infielder worked himself around the bases on three wild pitches coming across to score to put Vanderbilt in front 4-3.
The Commodores rallied for three in the top of the sixth to gain control. The trio of Tate Kolwyck, LaNeve and Bradfield all reached on walks to load the bases. With two outs, freshman Rob Gordon lined a bases-clearing double to right center to push Vandy’s lead to 7-3.
Vanderbilt tacked on one more in the seventh as Matthew Polk led off the frame with a triple to right field. In the next at-bat, Kolwyck sent a single up the middle to score Polk and make it a 8-3 contest.
Richmond added one in the home half with a solo home run to bring the score to 8-4, the eventual final.
Following the seven-inning exhibition, the Commodores and Spiders continued to play a situational scrimmage to conclude the afternoon.
Vanderbilt returns to action next weekend for their annual Black and Gold Series. The series will begin Friday evening as Game 1 is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch. Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Sunday,beginning at 1 p.m. while an if-necessary game is tentatively slated for Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Admission will be free for every game.
