After completing a road sweep of Florida this past weekend, No. 17 Vanderbilt returned home to Hawkins Field to face Dayton. Vanderbilt defeated Dayton 9-2 on a cold night for their fourth win in a row. It was an impressive night on the base paths for the Commodores, who stole nine bases, the most for them since 2012.
“Everyone is fairly athletic, and we ran better against Florida as well. But we’re going to need to continue stealing bases in the future,” head coach Tim Corbin said. “It’s the type of offense we run.”
The starting pitcher for Vanderbilt was Austin Nye, and Hector Escobar took the mound for Dayton. Both Nye and Escobar did well; however, things for Dayton went off the rails as more of their bullpen took the mound. The Commodores scored six runs in the third inning after Escobar left the game. Vanderbilt added to the lead after four total walks in the eighth inning, which helped bring in three runs. Vanderbilt’s bullpen dominated Dayton after the fourth inning, only allowing one run over six innings to coast to a win.
“We’ve created a team pitching environment, which is good, and it’s been helpful to have guys that throw well in short durations,” Corbin said.
Top 1: Vanderbilt 0, Dayton 0
Michael DiMartini hit a ground ball to third base to start the inning, but an error by Brodie Johnston got DiMartini on base. Nye then struck out Rylan Lujo before he walked Ryan MacDougall. Nye got his second strikeout against Bobby Stang. A wild pitch advanced the runners on base, but Nye settled in, and Adin Zorn grounded out to end the inning.
Bottom 1: Vanderbilt 0, Dayton 0
Rustan Rigdon hit a fly out to start before Mike Mancini hooked a ball to right field for a double. RJ Austin took the plate and hit a flyout, followed by Brodie Johnston, who walked. Mac Rose then struck out to end the inning, leaving two runners on the bases.
Top 2: Vanderbilt 0, Dayton 0
Nye started the inning by giving up a line drive to center field to Mason Dobie. He then struck out Alejandro Cazorla before both Dyrenson Wouters and Ty Mainolfi flied out for a quick inning.
Bottom 2: Vanderbilt 0, Dayton 0
Chris Maldonado struck out to start it off for Vanderbilt, followed by a single by Jayden Davis. Jonathan Vastine then hit a deep ball into center field. A bobbled catch by the center fielder resulted in Vastine attempting to reach third base. However, miscommunication on the bases resulted in Davis getting tagged out and Vastine settling for a double. Jacob Humphrey quickly struck out to leave the inning without any runs.
Top 3: Vanderbilt 0, Dayton 1
DiMartini hit a ground ball for a single to start the inning, followed by a double by Lujo along the third base line. Nye then struck out MacDougall before Stang hit a deep sacrifice fly to bring in a run for Dayton. Zorn followed with a flyout to end the inning.
Bottom 3: Vanderbilt 6, Dayton 1
James Heller came in the game to pitch for Dayton and walked Rigdon to start the inning before Mancini hit a single into the right side of the field. With two runners in scoring position, Austin took the plate and worked a walk to load the bases. Johnston was then hit by a pitch to bring in a run, followed by Mac Rose who hit a two-RBI single. Heller was then replaced by Jackson Judy. After Rose stole a base, Maldonado hit a sacrifice fly to bring in another run. The inning continued with a ground out from Davis, a walk from Vastine and a two-RBI single from Humphrey to increase Vanderbilt’s lead. Rigdon then flied out to end the inning.
Top 4: Vanderbilt 6, Dayton 1
Ethan McElvain entered the game for Nye and started by walking Dobie before striking out Carzola. McElvain then got Wouters to fly out and struck out Mainolfi for a quick inning.
Bottom 4: Vanderbilt 6, Dayton 1
Lukasz Rondeau took the mound for Dayton and walked Mancini to start his outing. Mancini then stole a base. Austin then hit a flyout with Mancini advancing to third, Johnston then hit a pop out and Rose struck out to end the inning.
Top 5: Vanderbilt 6, Dayton 2
McElvain quickly got a ground out and strikeout before giving up a solo home run to MacDougall. A flyout from Stang ended the inning.
Bottom 5: Vanderbilt 6, Dayton 2
Maldonado struck out, and Davis flied out before Vastine hit a double into left-center field. Vastine stole third, but Humphrey hit a flyout to leave a runner on the bases.
Top 6: Vanderbilt 6, Dayton 2
Luke Guth came into the game for McElvain and stuck out Zorn, got Dobie to ground out, and struck out Cazorla to quickly get through the side.
Bottom 7: Vanderbilt 6, Dayton 2
Michael Duldoski replaced Rondeau and gave up a leadoff double to Rose. Then, pinch-hitting for Maldonado, Braden Holcomb grounded out before Davis walked. Vastine then took the plate and grounded into a double play to end the inning without any runs scored.
Top 8: Vanderbilt 6, Dayton 2
Jakob Schulz took the mound for Vanderbilt and quickly got MacDougall and Stang to ground out before walking Zorn. Schulz then ended the inning by striking out Dobie.
Bottom 8: Vanderbilt 9, Dayton 2
Duldoski walked both Humphrey and Rigdon before Mancini hit a ground ball, fielded to second for an the inning’s first out. Austin then followed with a walk, which loaded the bases up. Then Johnston, Rose and Holcomb all walked to bring in three runs. Davis then grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Top 9: Vanderbilt 9, Dayton 2
Tristan Bristow came in to close out the game for Vanderbilt and gave up a leadoff hit to Cazorla before getting a strikeout and two groundouts to end the game.
Vanderbilt will be back in action this weekend as it travels to Norman, Oklahoma, to take on the Oklahoma Sooners. The series will start on April 11 at 7 p.m. CDT.
