The Vanderbilt Commodores (27-10, 8-7) handled the Lipscomb Bisons (11-24, 7-8), 15-4 on Tuesday night. The Commodores’ win came after they lost three consecutive games to the Texas A&M Aggies.
“We knew we were going to have to come in here and take care of business,” Junior Matthew Polk said.
Freshman Brennan Seiber got the nod for the VandyBoys, ultimately allowing two runs and two hits in three innings pitched. Of Seiber’s 41 pitches, 73% were strikes.
The Commodores had no issue making Ken Dugan Field feel like home on Tuesday right from the first inning. Vanderbilt had a whopping four runs in the first inning which included RBIs from Braden Holcomb, Jayden Davis and Polk.
The Bisons had a strong offensive showing in the first inning. Alex Vergara batted first for Lipscomb and singled to left center field. Matthew Lundgrin then hit a ball down the first base side, which Seiber bobbled. Lundgrin ultimately advanced to first base while Vergara moved to second base. Two batters later — with one out — Austin Kelly singled to right field. Vanderbilt’s right fielder, Raymond Velazquez, scooped up the ball and then overthrew Jack Bulger at home plate, which brought Vergara home from third base.
The Bisons earned one more run to end the first inning, thanks to Parks Bouks reaching on a fielder’s choice and bringing home a batter.
Vanderbilt extended its lead to 5-2 when Vastine came home off of a wild pitch from Kyle Hetherington. The Commodores would cause no more damage in the second inning. Seiber had a 1-2-3 affair in the bottom of the second frame.
Holcomb batted first in the third inning and struck out looking. Then Davis singled and Polk doubled. Troy LaNeve then doubled to left center field, which brought David home and Polk to third base.
Logan Poteet extended Vanderbilt’s lead to 9-2 when he delivered a 3-run homer. The deep shot was Poteet’s third home run of the year. The Commodores entered the bottom of the third inning with a comfortable cushion. Seiber remained determined and delivered another 1-2-3 frame to close out the third inning.
After both teams exchanged scoreless frames in the fourth inning, Vanderbilt got back on the board in the top of the fifth inning.
With the bases loaded and one out, Camden Kozeal popped out to right field and brought home Davis. With another opportunity with runners in scoring position, Vastine delivered and doubled down the right field line. Vastine’s double brought home both LaNeve and Polk. A few moments later, the Commodores scored and earned another run to extend their lead to 13-2.
With runners on all bases and two outs, Davis singled up the middle. The single led to Holcomb and Diaz coming home from third base and second base, respectively. Vanderbilt went into the bottom of the fifth inning with a 15-2 lead.
After Vanderbilt allowed no hits and no runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Commodores went scoreless in the sixth inning.
The Commodores were smooth sailing until they allowed two runs to the Bisons in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The game ended after both Vanderbilt and Lipscomb had scoreless frames in the seventh inning. The game was concluded before the beginning of the eighth inning due to the 10-run rule.
Vanderbilt will return to Hawkins Field after a nine-day hiatus from playing on West End. The Commodores will look to extend their home win streak to 16 games when they play the Florida Gators at 6:30 p.m. CDT on Thursday.
