GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Vanderbilt pitchers Jack Armstrong, Richie Goodenow and Chase Reid combined on a five-hit shutout to lead the Commodores to a 7-0 win over Florida in the series finale Sunday afternoon at McKethan Stadium.
The Commodores moved to 24-6 overall and 5-4 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Gators fell to 20-7 and 6-3 in league play.
A week after he gave up seven runs in five innings against Kentucky, Armstrong (4-0) threw six innings of four-hit shutout baseball with four strikeouts and three walks. Goodenow threw 1.2 innings of hitless relief and Reid closed things out with 1.1 innings of one-hit ball.
Jason Esposito led the Commodores with two solo homers and three runs scored, while Anthony Gomez had four hits and two RBI to help lead the way.
“It was a big win for us today,” said Esposito. “We came out and swung the bats well and saw a lot of pitches and got deep into counts. That really boosted our confidence coming off of two losses.”
VU got on the board in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by second baseman Anthony Gomez. Jason Esposito reached base while striking out on a wild pitch that got past Florida catcher Mike Zunino. He stole second and moved to third on a groundout to third. Gomez later singled to shallow left to bring Esposito home.
Esposito led off the sixth with a solo homer down the left field line to double the lead to 2-0. Anthony Gomez and Mike Yastrzemski singled with two outs before Brian Harris hit a slow roller to short that Nolan Fontana fielded and threw to second for the force. The throw was late and got away from Josh Adams, allowing Gomez to score to make it 3-0.
Florida starter Hudson Randall allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 5.2 innings with six strikeouts and a walk.
Esposito hit his second solo homer in the seventh, off of reliever Jeff Barfield, to extend the lead to 4-0.
Brian Johnson walked to lead off the seventh, ending Armstrong’s day. The Commodores went to southpaw Richie Goodenow and he struck out pinch hitter Tyler Thompson and Kamm Washington before getting Mike Zunino to ground out to end the frame and preserve the shutout.
Nolan Fontana was hit by a pitch to lead off the eighth and Matt den Dekker hit a deep line drive to right that Joe Loftus jumped up at the wall to catch, robbing the Gators of a two-run homer.
Andrew Giobbi led off the ninth with a double to left and scored on Aaron Westlake’s RBI double down the right field line. After Esposito flew out to center, Connor Harrell, Joe Loftus and Anthony Gomez hit three consecutive singles with Loftus and Gomez driving home runs to make it 7-0.
“Jack came out and threw strikes and was competitive,” said Esposito. “I think you saw why he was named a preseason All-American.”
The Commodores will return home to begin an eight-game home stand starting with Belmont on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
