Vanderbilt Baseball opened its first home weekend series of the season with a decisive victory against Saint Mary’s on Friday afternoon, marking the squad’s fourth win in a row. The Gaels came in hot off an upset win against No. 21 ranked UC Santa Barbara, but were quickly welcomed into Hawkins field by a hungry Commodore lineup.
The top of the order delivered once again for Vanderbilt, with RJ Austin, Rustan Rigdon, and Riley Nelson combining to go 5 for 11 with 4 RBI’s. Speedy right fielder Jacob Humphrey also provided a spark at the bottom of the order going 2 for 3 with a stolen base on the day. But the big blow came from senior Jonathan Vastine, who smashed a 3-run home run in the 6th to effectively put the game out of reach.
“We just went out there and put good at-bats together,” said Vastine. “We tried to do what we could with the situation.”
Friday also marked the first home appearance from Vanderbilt Ace JD Thompson this season, who didn’t have his best stuff but did just enough to keep Commodores in the game. Largely relying on his fastball, Thompson struck out 5 over 4.0 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. He gave up just one extra base hit, a double to lead off the fourth, which largely helped limit damage.
Southpaw Derek Eaquinto got the start for Saint Mary’s, and like Thompson, struggled to find his groove. The lefty went 3.2 innings allowing 6 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks.
Sawyer Hawks was dominant in his three scoreless innings of work, striking out 5 and not allowing a single ball to leave the infield. Corbin has begin to deploy Hawks as more of a longman in the bullpen, stretching him out to go several innings as opposed to just one.
“[Hawks] did a good job of just not allowing them to create any momentum,” said Corbin. “He’s pitching with confidence.”
Freshman Brodie Johnston, who had been dealing with a broken hand, also made his collegiate debut in the contest, flying out to the warning track in left field in one at-bat in the 6th inning. James Madison transfer Mike Mancini also returned and made his Commodore debut, coming in as a defensive replacement in the 8th.
“Once we put [Johnston and Mancini] in, they’re full go,” said Corbin.
Top 1: Vanderbilt 0, Saint Mary’s 0
Thompson opened the contest with back to back punchouts before surrendering a two-out single to third baseman Ryan Pierce. Thompson then came back with a high fastball to strike out Eddie Madrigal to retire the side.
Bottom 1: Vanderbilt 0, Saint Mary’s 0
After a failed Austin bunt attempt and a strikeout of Rigdon, Eaquinto nearly recorded a clean frame to begin his day, but an error by the first baseman Madrigal allowed Nelson to reach. After advancing to scoring position on a Jayden Davis walk, Nelson was stranded by a JD Rogers groundout to third to end the frame.
Top 2: Vanderbilt 0, Saint Mary’s 2
Left fielder Brian Duroff led off the second with a flyout to his positional counterpart Rogers. Thompson quickly found himself in some trouble after that, allowing back to back baserunners on a single and a walk, respectively. A double-steal attempt then took the Vanderbilt defense out of position, enabling catcher Ian Armstrong to sneak a dribbler through the right side of the infield, scoring Aiden Taurek. With runners on the corners and one out, nine-hole hitter Diego Castellanos drove in a second run on a sac fly before a strike out ended the inning with the Gaels up 2-0.
Bottom 2: Vanderbilt 3, Saint Mary’s 2
Two quick strikeouts of Colin Barczi and Chris Maldonado made it appear as if Eaquinto was on his way to a quick inning. But after a Humphrey hit by pitch, Vastine blooped a single into right field, advancing Humphrey to third. A second hit by pitch of the inning allowed Austin to reach, bringing up Rigdon with the bases juiced. The freshman Rigdon delivered with an infield single, scoring Humphrey from third. Nelson then followed suit, lacing a go-ahead single into right-center field to give the Commodores a 3-2 lead. Davis would ground out to third to end the frame.
Top 3: Vanderbilt 3, Saint Mary’s 2
Like Eaquinto in the second, Thompson began the third with two quick outs. A walk then allowed Duroff to reach but Vastine came up with a backhanded stab deep in the hole at shortstop to end the frame on a fielder’s choice.
Bottom 3: Vanderbilt 3, Saint Mary’s 2
Following the game’s pattern so far, Eaquinto once again retired Rogers and Barczi on groundouts to begin the inning before running into some trouble. A walk by Maldonado and a single by Humphrey put a runner in scoring position for Vastine, but this time Eaquinto escaped unscathed, inducing a groundout to end the inning.
Top 4: Vanderbilt 3, Saint Mary’s 3
Taurek kicked off the fourth inning by lacing a double into the left field corner. A sac bunt from Jared Mettam advanced Taurek to third and allowed Armstrong to deliver his second RBI single of the game, knotting the score up at 3-3. Thompson allowed two more singles to follow but a pickoff at first base and another web gem by Vastine limited the damage to just one run.
Bottom 4: Vanderbilt 6, Saint Mary’s 3
Austin began the fourth with a burst of energy, squibbing a ball down the right field line and legging out a leadoff triple. Rigdon then drove in Austin with a sac fly to right to give Vanderbilt the lead back. Nelson reached on an infield single but was quickly eliminated by a fielder’s choice, and a Rogers walk ended Eaquinto’s day on the mound. Adam Enyart was the first man out of the bullpen for the Gaels and Barczi promptly welcomed him to the game with a double down the right field line, scoring Davis and Rogers and extending Vanderbilt’s lead to three runs. Then Maldonado flew out to right to end the frame.
Top 5: Vanderbilt 6, Saint Mary’s 3
Hawks took over for Thompson and quickly set the Gaels lineup down with two strikeouts. A leaping grab by Maldonado at third kept the score at 6-3 halfway through the contest.
Bottom 5: Vanderbilt 7, Saint Mary’s 3
The home fifth began with Humphrey once again slapping a single to center field followed up by a warning track fly ball from Vastine. Back to back walks for Austin and Rigdon loaded the bases again for Nelson, who swung through a high fastball for the second out of the inning. Enyart continued to struggle finding the strike zone however, walking in a run and extending the Vanderbilt lead to four. A punchout of Rogers allowed the righty to escape further trouble.
Top 6: Vanderbilt 7, Saint Mary’s 3
Hawks returned to the mound in the 6th and provided the game’s first 1-2-3 inning, striking out two and inducing a groundout to short.
Bottom 6: Vanderbilt 10, Saint Mary’s 3
Freshman Lukas Sarantos entered the game for Enyart and quickly allowed a leadoff single to Barczi and a walk to Maldonado. After Humphrey advanced the runners with a sac bunt, Vastine clobbered a fastball over the right field bleachers for a 3-run home run to extend the Commodore lead to 10-3. Austin then smashed his second triple of the game, forcing Sarantos out after recording just one out. Jaden McNeely took over and induced a Rigdon fly out before walking both Nelson and Davis to load the bases back up. First-year phenom Johnston then made his collegiate debut pinch-hitting for Rogers, flying out to the warning track in left field.
Top 7: Vanderbilt 10, Saint Mary’s 3
Hawks came back out for a third inning of work, once again efficiently retiring the side in order via a strikeout and two groundouts.
Bottom 7: Vanderbilt 11, Saint Mary’s 3
Barczi led off the 7th with a single off of new Saint Mary’s pitcher Sean Cannon. After two more walks and a Humphrey fly out, slugger Braden Holcomb pinch hit with a sac-fly to score Barczi. A Rigdon walk loaded the bases back up for Nelson who popped out to end the inning.
Top 8: Vanderbilt 11, Saint Mary’s 3
Freshman Tristan Bristow made his collegiate debut in the 8th, retiring the side in order with a strikeout, flyout, and groundout. JMU transfer Mike Mancini also made his Vanderbilt debut as a defensive replacement, headlining a slew of substitutions in the inning.
Bottom 8: Vanderbilt 11, Saint Mary’s 3
Mancini walked in his first at bat as a Commodore and advanced into scoring position on a David Mendez groundout. A Mac Rose groundout and Maldonado flyout ended the inning with the score unchanged.
Top 9: Vanderbilt 11, Saint Mary’s 4
Like Bristow, Aiden O’Connell also made his collegiate debut in the 9th, allowing a run on an RBI single from Justin Heffl. Still, O’Connell recorded two strikeouts to close things out for Vanderbilt.
