Vanderbilt Baseball (32-13, 12-9 SEC) welcomed Indiana State (21-23) to Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tennessee, looking to bounce back from their April 22 loss to Middle Tennessee State. The Commodores did just that, winning 5-2 behind a stellar performance from midweek starter Austin Nye.

Nye drew the start for the Commodores and was, as he has been for much of the year, excellent. His final line came out as 5.0 innings pitched with 3 hits, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. He squared off against Jacob Spencer, who got the starting nod for the Sycamores and went just 2.0 innings.

“I liked the focus of the guy who was on the mound at the beginning of the game,” head coach Tim Corbin said of Nye after the game. “I thought he was pretty efficient.”

Mac Rose hit the sole home run of the game. The Commodores’ arms combined to allow just two total runs as they earned their 11th midweek win of the year. 

Top 1: Vanderbilt 0, Indiana State 0

Nye struck Carter Beck and Jackson Taylor out to start the game before issuing a walk to Carlos Pena. He caught Jeremy Martinez swinging to strike out the side and end the inning. 

Bottom 1: Vanderbilt 0, Indiana State 0

Rustan Rigdon led off for the Black and Gold but struck out looking, bringing RJ Austin to the plate. Austin didn’t fare much better, fouling out to the catcher, Martinez. Riley Nelson struck out swinging to end the inning.

Top 2: Vanderbilt 0, Indiana State 0

Nye picked up where he left off, striking Keegan Garis and Thomas Emerich out before inducing a lineout from Mason Roell to go three up, three down. 

Bottom 2: Vanderbilt 2, Indiana State 0 

Brodie Johnston started the inning off with a hard-hit ball directly to the shortstop before Braden Holcomb reached on an infield single. Rose got the scoring going with an opposite field homer and Vanderbilt went up 2-0. Colin Barczi grounded out, and Jonathan Vastine got caught swinging to end the inning. 

Top 3: Vanderbilt 2, Indiana State 0 

Nick Sutherlin struck out before Nomar Garcia and Beck grounded out to first base as Nye’s hitless streak extended to nine batters. 

Bottom 3: Vanderbilt 3, Indiana State 0 

Ty Brooks took the mound for Spencer and Mike Mancini walked to start the inning. The junior stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Rigdon grounded out to second base, scoring Mancini in the process. Austin and Nelson both struck out to end the inning as Brooks limited the damage. 

Top 4: Vanderbilt 3, Indiana State 0 

Nye induced a groundout from Taylor and a flyout from Pena before Martinez picked up the Sycamores’ first hit of the game with a single to left field. Garis fouled out soon after, ending the inning.

Bottom 4: Vanderbilt 3, Indiana State 0 

Johnston fouled out to Martinez before Holcomb hit a ground-rule double to dead center field. Rose advanced him to third, but Barczi couldn’t bring him home, striking out. 

Top 5: Vanderbilt 3, Indiana State 0 

Emerich ripped a single down the third-base line but got tagged out trying to stretch it into a double. Roell walked before Sutherlin singled down the right side. Nye induced a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and keep the Sycamores off the board.

Bottom 5: Vanderbilt 3, Indiana State 0 

Vastine grounded out to first before Mancini and Rigdon struck out swinging as the Commodores went three up, three down. 

Top 6: Vanderbilt 3, Indiana State 1

Miller Green replaced Nye on the mound and immediately surrendered a ground-rule double to Beck. Beck took third on a wild pitch before Taylor hit an opposite-field single to get his team on the board. Green got his first out with a strikeout of Pena and followed suit with another strikeout of Martinez. Garis reached on a single and Emerich walked, loading the bases. Green hung in tight and struck Roell out to escape the inning.

Bottom 6: Vanderbilt 4, Indiana State 1

Austin flied out to start the inning before Nelson snuck a ball into right field and advanced to second on a balk. Johnston brought in a run with a single but got tagged trying to stretch to second. The out was overturned after an umpire review, and Johnston was awarded a single with an error. Breyllin Suriel came in for relief with runners on the corners and one out after Holcomb walked and Johnston took third on a wild pitch. Holcomb stole second, but Barczi lined out to end the inning. 

Top 7: Vanderbilt 4, Indiana State 2 

Luke Guth took over for Green, but a double to center and a bunt single put runners on the corners with no outs. Vastine used his glove, legs and arm to turn a double play on Beck, but Sutherlin scored to bring the deficit back to two runs. Taylor’s groundout ended the inning. 

Bottom 7: Vanderbilt 5, Indiana State 2

Zac Laird took over for Surriel, and Vastine reached on a double to left field to start the inning. Mancini reached first on a bunt, and Laird airmailed the throw over first base to send Vastine home and put Mancini on second. Carson Seeman replaced Laird and got Rigdon out on a bunt as Mancini advanced to third. Austin walked but got caught stealing, and Nelson lined out to end the inning. 

Top 8: Vanderbilt 5, Indiana State 2

Ethan McElvain got the nod for the eighth inning and went three up, three down.

Top 9: Vanderbilt 5, Indiana State 2

Alex Kranzler came in to close the game for the Commodores and did so in dominant fashion. Emerich led things off with a single to right field, but Kranlzer struck out Roell and Sutherlin and induced a popout from Cartagena to end the game.

Vanderbilt will be back in action this weekend, opening its series against Alabama on May 2 at 6 p.m. CDT at Hawkins Field.