NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt baseball scored a season-high 15 runs Tuesday night at First Horizon Park to defeat Belmont 15-6.
Freshman RJ Austin went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI and Jack Bulger went 3-for-6 with a home run and four RBI.
Vanderbilt jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a productive first inning. Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Davis Diaz worked back-to-back walks to lead things off. After RJ Schreck singled to load the bases, Bulger and Austin each singled home a run as the Dores kept the bases full.
Matthew Polk doubled Vandy’s lead with a two-out poke up the middle that brought home Bulger and Austin.
Belmont answered with a pair of runs in the home half of the first to cut the Vandy lead in half.
Austin recorded his second hit on the evening to lead off the third. Austin turned in a single into a double with an aggressive turn on his hit to left field, beating the throw at second. Chris Maldonado then hit a dribbler up the middle that scored Austin from second to give the Dores a 5-2 lead.
Maldonado stole second and moved to third on a Polk single before tagging up and scoring on a sac fly by Jonathan Vastine.
Belmont loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, but Moore got a strikeout, pop out and a fly out to leave the bases full.
Bulger roped a two-out double down the line in left to bring Austin to the plate in the fourth inning. Austin laid down a bunt-single, his third hit, and Bulger scored from second on a throwing error by the Belmont third baseman.
Bulger kept his good night going in the sixth. Diaz worked a leadoff walk and after a groundout, Bulger blasted his first home run on the season to left-center, giving Vandy a 9-2 advantage with his third hit of the contest.
Belmont hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh and scored two more runs on a pair of groundouts to cut Vandy’s lead to 9-5 through seven.
The Commodores got all three runs back in the top of the eighth. Bradfield walked, stole second and Diaz walked to put two on with nobody out. Bulger delivered again with a fielder’s choice that scored Bradfield. Austin then singled for his fourth hit to score Diaz. Maldonado singled home Bulger to make it a 12-5 game.
Bradfield’s second stolen base on the night gave him 114 for his career, moving him into sixth in the SEC record books.
The Bruins tacked on a run on a pair of hits, including an RBI double, in the bottom of the eighth to cut the Dores’ lead to six.
After a Belmont error allowed Hewett to reach to lead off the ninth, Vastine launched a two-run shot to right, his third homer on the year. Vanderbilt added at 15th run on a sac fly.
Bradfield and Diaz combined to draw seven walks in the win with Bradfield earning four of them. The duo each scored three times.
Grayson Moore got the start on the mound for Vandy and threw three innings, not allowing an earned run and striking out five. Patrick Reilly (W, 1-1) came on in relief and tossed four frames to earn the win.
Vanderbilt begins conference play Thursday with a three-game series against No. 3 Ole Miss at Hawkins Field. The Dores and Rebels will open the series at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. Friday’s game will also start at 6 p.m. and will air on SEC Network+. Saturday’s finale will start at 11 a.m. on SEC Network.
