Vanderbilt Baseball (7-1) grabbed a series sweep, and its sixth straight win, when it defeated St. Marys 10-0 on Feb. 23. 

“I  thought the focus and the energy throughout the weekend was good,” Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin said. “That’s their toughest challenge when it comes to maturity of ball teams and separating games from game to game. For us to be able to do what we did, that was a big deal.”

Junior right-handed pitcher Cody Bowker got the nod from head coach Tim Corbin after an impressive Sunday outing the week before against UC Irvine. The rest of the starting lineup included RJ Austin leading off and playing center field, followed by Rustan Rigdon (LF), Riley Nelson (1B), Brodie Johnston (3B), Mac Rose (C), Colin Barczi (DH), Mike Mancini (2B), Jacob Humphrey (RF) and Jonathan Vastine (SS). 

Bowker had another great showing finishing his day with six strikeouts and three walks while allowing no runs or hits.

“[Bowker] really concentrates on every pitch,” Corbin said. “I love the way he works. We’re lucky to have him and he did a nice job for us.”

The first few innings were relatively quiet on the offensive side but the ‘Dores pulled ahead in the bottom of the third inning putting three runs on the board. Another big inning where the Commodores grabbed four hits to score seven runs put the Commodores over the top and ended the game with a run-rule. 

Top 1: Vanderbilt 0, St. Mary’s 0

St. Mary’s quickly got a base runner in Cody Kashimoto — the lead-off hitter — when Bowker worked a full count resulting in a walk. Bowker soon settled in though, disposing of the next three batters he faced on a fly-out and two strikeouts. 

Bottom 1: Vanderbilt 0, St. Mary’s 0

After Austin struck out looking, Rigdon was able to draw a walk to put a runner on base with three-hole hitter in Nelson up to bat. Nelson, reliable as always, hit a line drive that dropped in front of the right fielder for a base hit. With runners on the corners, Johnston hit a high fly ball into foul territory, that the first baseman Eddie Madrigal easily put away. Rose would ground out to end the inning and leave two Commodores stranded. 

Top 2: Vanderbilt 0, St. Mary’s 0

Bowker picked right up where he left off in the first, forcing the Gaels to go three up, three down while adding another strikeout to his total.  

Bottom 2: Vanderbilt 0, St. Mary’s 0

Barczi struck out swinging on a 2-2 count but Vanderbilt got two runners on base when Mancini and Vastine were both walked — with a Humphrey strikeout in between. But Austin was caught swinging by St. Mary’s pitcher Sam Kretsch — Kretsch’s fourth strikeout of the day. 

Top 3: Vanderbilt 0, St. Mary’s 0

Bowker, riding high off the previous two innings, retired the first batter he faced with a looking strikeout. A tight strike zone resulted in a walk off the second batter, but Bowker dug in. The Maine native retired Kashimoto with another strikeout and forced the next batter to pop up to the shortstop.  

Bottom 3: Vanderbilt 3, St. Mary’s 0

Rigdon started the Commodores off on the right foot with a single to right field. Nelson carried that momentum getting on base as well when he was hit by a pitch. Johnston followed by tagging a hard grounder through the left side gap — nabbing his first hit of the year. Rose was then thrown out at first on a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners. Barczi would get the second out of the inning but was able to score Nelson. Despite having two outs Mancini executed a brilliant bunt which had him safe at first and scored Johnston. The inning would end on a Humphrey strike out but not before the ‘Dores put three runs on the board.

Top 4: Vanderbilt 3, St. Mary’s 0

Johnston, the first-year, flashed some leather in the top of the fourth. The Tennessee native was responsible for all three outs of the inning, picking up a dribbler that hit Bowker on the foot for the out at first while grabbing a grounder and a fly-out.

Bottom 4: Vanderbilt 3, St. Mary’s 0

Vastine lead-off the Commodore bats in the fourth and would eventually end up striking out on a full count. Austin got on base though when he got hit by a pitch — the team’s second of the day. Austin soon stole second while Nelson drew a walk. Austin and Nelson executed the double steal just a few moments later, but Johnston struck out promptly, ending the inning.

Top 5: Vanderbilt 3, St. Mary’s 0

Bowker, with just 52 pitches to end the fourth inning, returned to the mound. After hitting the first batter, Bowker worked up to a full count on Jared Mettam before walking him. Now with runners on first and second and no outs, Vanderbilt pitching coach Scott Brown paid Bowker a visit on the mound. The next Gaels batter, Hayden Driggs, hit a long ball that Rigdon put away on the warning track. Bowker got a second out when he struck out Castellanos followed by forcing a groundout from the next batter, ending the inning unscathed. 

Bottom 5: Vanderbilt 3, St. Mary’s 0

Talin Gardini entered the game as a pitcher for the Gaels, ending Kretsch’s day with five strikeouts while allowing four hits and three runs across three innings of work. Rose started Vanderbilt’s bat with a single straight up the middle of the field but a Barczi groundout resulted in a double play and a Mancini groundout ended the inning as quickly as it started. 

Top 6: Vanderbilt 3, St. Mary’s 0

Ryan Ginther took the mound for the Commodores in the sixth inning, his first game since appearing in Tuesday’s contest against Air Force. Ginther allowed a single from the first batter he faced, Tanner Griff, but was shortly bailed out by his defense on a double play from Vastine to Mancini and then to Nelson. Ginther then forced Madrigal into a groundout to end the top half of the inning. 

Bottom 6: Vanderbilt 10, St. Mary’s 0

St. Mary’s made another change at pitcher to start the inning, substituting Justin Santiago for Talin Gardini. Two quick groundouts from Humphrey and Vastine didn’t seem promising but Vanderbilt put together a two-out rally. It all started with Austin and Rigdon drawing back-to-back walks followed by a base hit from Nelson that dropped into right field and scored Austin. Johnston added another RBI on a grounder that got through an infield gap while Rose tagged a double off the left-field wall to score Nelson. 

The Vanderbilt rally prompted yet another Gaels pitching change with Daniel Guevara Castro a right-hander, entering the game to replace Santiago. JD Rogers entered to pinch hit for Barczi and was eventually walked to load the bases. Next up was Mancini, who also walked which scored Rose. Humphrey smacked an off-speed pitch into left-center field bringing in Rogers and Mancini — with Mancini narrowly avoiding a tag at home plate. The inning ended on a Vastine groundout to second base. The ‘Dores put up a seven-spot in the bottom of the sixth and extended their lead to 10. 

Top 7: Vanderbilt 10, St. Mary’s 0

Corbin opted for another pitching change, bringing in sophomore right-hander Alex Kranzler. He allowed a hit but was able to get out of the inning and secure a run-rule win for the Commodores.

Vanderbilt will host Tennessee Tech on Feb. 25 at 4:30 p.m. CST for a midweek matchup before it hits the road and travels to the West Coast for the Southern California Baseball Classic.