Diaz's homer walks off UT-Martin
Vanderbilt's Davis Diaz hit a ninth-inning home run that lifted the Commodores (30-11) to a 5-4 victory over UT-Martin (15-25).
Diaz's home run came off lefty Brock Arender with two outs and nobody on in the ninth. It made a winner of Brennan Seiber, who threw two innings of one-run ball.
Five Commodore pitchers combined to fan 14 Skyhawks in eight innings. The best effort came from Sam Hliboki, who struck out eight straight in the midst of a four-shutout-inning performance, during which he allowed just one runner.
Jonathan Vastine also homered for Vanderbilt; he and Diaz each collected two hits while Matthew Polk had a team-leading three and drove in a run.
The Commodores had blown a three-run lead after to failing to score from the fourth inning on until Diaz's blast, which got just into the bleachers in left-center. Vanderbilt stranded at least one man in each inning between the fourth and the eight.
Devin Futrell started, and allowed one run on three hits, two of which were bloop hits lost in the sun. It was the junior's first appearance since he allowed eight runs (four earned) in three innings of a March 24 loss at South Carolina.
Futrell threw just 18 pitches, likely opening the door for a weekend appearance vs. Mississippi State.
It's the 11th-consecutive mid-week win for the Commodores since losing their first mid-week game of the season to Dayton. It's Vanderbilt's 15th-straight non-conference win.
Vanderbilt begins its series with MSU on Friday at 6 Central.
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