Five pitchers, all sophomores or younger, combined to stifle the Austin Peay Governors at Hawkins Field Wednesday night as Vanderbilt cruised to an easy 8-1 victory. The Governors put men on base in every inning but one but scored just once, in the sixth on a bloop single.
Freshman Chase Reid started and earned the win, pitching two shutout innings and striking out two. The freshman lowered his ERA to a sparkling 1.33 for the season. Jason Cunningham, Drew Hayes and Sean Bierman threw two innings apiece, and Mark Lamm slammed the door, striking out the final hitter.
Hayes relieved Cunningham in the fifth with runners on the corners and none out but managed to escape the jam, getting two hitters to pop out and then getting the Governors' best hitter, third baseman Tyler Farrar, to fly out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
The short homestand was just what the doctor ordered for a pitching staff that had been getting roughed up over the weekend. The Commodores yielded just two runs in 18 innings against Western Kentucky and Austin Peay.
The hitting was just as consistent as the pitching: the Commodores put men on base in all but one inning, except they capitalized on their opportunities, jumping out to a 5-0 lead and never looking back.
Shortstop Ryan Flaherty led the attack with three hits, including a home run to right-center in the third inning. Also, Pedro Alvarez broke a hitless streak of seven at-bats with an opposite field RBI double in the sixth.
Vanderbilt (21-10, 5-6 SEC) resumes conference play this weekend in Starksville against Mississippi State.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
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