NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Vanderbilt freshman left-hander Devin Futrell threw a complete-game two-hitter as the Commodores downed Lipscomb, 7-1, at First Horizon Park on Tuesday evening.
Futrell (5-0) struck out six, walked two and hit a batter, and retired 15 straight in a stretch spanning the third to eighth innings. He finished with 106 pitches and threw 70 of them for strikes.
Vanderbilt collected just six hits, and none went for extra bases at spacious First Horizon Park on a night during which a strong wind blew towards home plate for much of the evening. However, the Commodores were helped by the fact that eight Lipscomb pitchers combined to walk 10 men and hit two more.
First baseman Dominic Keegan had a single, a walk and drove in three, the key hit being a two-RBI single in the eighth. Left fielder Calvin Hewitt had a two-RBI single in the second that put the Commodores (20-4) ahead for good.
Futrell said he'd pitched a seven-inning complete game in high school but had never done it for nine innings. Coach Tim Corbin, who's in his 20th season at Vanderbilt, said he hadn't recalled a mid-week complete game in his tenure.
"It was an outstanding performance," Corbin said. "I don't know if I've seen that mid-week. He used the ballpark, threw strikes, didn't allow a runner on base from the third inning up until the eighth. He just did a nice job attacking the zone and getting the ball up in the air which, tonight, in this ballpark--on any night--is a very difficult thing to do in terms of trying to get the ball out. Outstanding job."
It didn't start easily for Futrell, who survived several hard-hit balls in the first inning and admitted to being "a little amped up." He retired the side in order in the second, and Lipscomb got just one runner to second from that point on.
"In my first inning, I really didn't have command of my off'-speed [pitches]," Futrell said. "My change-up and my slider weren't as effective. My warm-up pitches in the second inning, I really focused on that and it helped me."
Futrell entered the ninth at 92 pitches and wasn't sure if he'd be allowed to finish.
"[Pitching coach Scott Brown] let me go, but there were some moments I was hiding from them," Futrell said with a laugh.
Lipscomb's David Coppedge led off the first with a hard-hit double to left-center and then a sacrifice bunt moved him over a base. Mason Lundgrin hit a line drive to center that Enrique Bradfield Jr. nearly overran in his attempt to position himself for a throw at the plate, but Bradfield recognized his mistake just in time to make a high, leaping grab before it got behind hm. Futrell then walked Malik Williams before getting a fly ball to left to end that.
Trace Wilhoite led off the first with a foul pop-up that second baseman Tate Kolwyck caught after about a 40-yard sprint, just before he crashed into the wall and toppled over into the stands. A strikeout and a ground-out later, Futrell was out of that inning.
In the third, Futrell walked Maddux Houghton, then, didn't give up a runner again until Caleb Ketchup's single to right in the eighth.
In the meantime, Futrell helped himself by making a phenomenal play on a roller down third, sprinting to grab the ball before spinning and firing a strike to Keegan at first.
After a 1-2-3 first, Vandy's Jack Bulger led off the second with a single. With one out, Gavin Casas took the first of five free passes in the inning as the 'Dores scored four times in that frame.
Vanderbilt got a run in the second when Bradfield scored on a sacrifice fly, then the final two in the eighth on Hewitt's single.
The Commodores begin a three-game series with top-ranked Tennessee this weekend at Hawkins Field, starting on Friday.
