Lefty Jake Eder pitched 5 2/3 innings of two-run, 11-strikeout baseball, leading Vanderbilt to a 5-2 win over Illinois-Chicago at Hawkins Field on Sunday afternoon.
Thomas Schultz threw a scoreless 1 1/3 innings, and closer Tyler Brown, a scoreless two as Vanderbilt (6-2) swept the Flames in a three-game series. The three combined to allow just five hits and two walks against 13 strikeouts.
Right fielder Isaiah Thomas added a solo home run, his first, for VU. DH Will Duff and third baseman Parker Noland added two hits each.
Eder sharp on Sunday
After a rough outing against Cal Poly last Sunday, Eder looked like an entirely different pitcher this time.
Eder had both his fastball and his breaking ball working on Sunday. He threw 93 pitches, and 62 for strikes.
The junior struck out Matt Bottcher, UIC's leadoff man, before walking Ryan Lin-Peistrup. But a strike-out, throw-out double play ended the first.
That was the start of 12 hitters in a row that Eder retired. Seven came by strikeouts. Garrett McCarthy's two-out, infield single in the fifth ended that string, and then Eder got Sean Dee looking to end the fifth.
The only blemish came in the sixth, when No. 9 hitter Joshua Figueroa homered to left. That was a two-run bomb because Brett Tressen had an infield single ahead of him.
Thomas shows power
Thomas flashed massive right-handed power last year, and showed it again Sunday.
The sophomore blasted a solo homer to left with two outs in the second off starter Bobby Nicholson.
He hit a ball perhaps even further in the sixth. It was foul to left, and Thomas hit into a 5-3-5 double play later in the at bat.
Brown back on track
It may not have been vintage 2019 Brown, but Vandy's closer--who blew two save chances last week--got back on track Sunday.
Brown gave up some hard contact, including a two-out Lin-Peistrup single in the eighth, and a ball Trey Beckman hit that came inches from leaving the yard before Thomas crashed into the wall to snag it in the ninth.
Brown struck out two UIC hitters and didn't walk anyone to get a two-inning save, his first of the season.
Flames' defense snuffs out Vandy rallies
The Commodores had runners on every inning, but scored in just three of them. Much credit for that has to go to the Flames' defense, which turned double plays in the first, sixth and seventh.
The one in the sixth could have been easily avoided. Thomas grounded to third baseman Thomas Norton, who threw to first baseman Alex Dee for the first out. Noland, who didn't have a huge lead off second, dashed for third after the throw went across the diamond and slid in too late when the throw came back.
Norton also made a nice play to gun Noland out at home on a first-and-third, one-out situation in the eighth.
VU also left the bases loaded in the eighth when Duff struck out to end the inning.
