On a weekend in which home runs and runs are coming at record paces in the NCAA tournament, Vanderbilt's Nick Maldonado was the rock on the mound that the Commodores needed in a 14-4 win over San Diego in the Corvallis (Ore.) regional at Goss Field on Sunday.

Maldonado pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowed three runs and struck out five while picking up a win in an elimination game.

It helped that the Commodores had one of their best offensive days of the season, as they pounded out 17 hits (three for extra bases) and reached base 22 times.

First baseman Dominic Keegan led the team with four hits and four RBIs and tied right fielder Spencer Jones with a game-high three runs scored. Third baseman Parker Noland added three hits and three RBIs for the Commodores (38-22) as did center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., who had a ninth-inning home run to the opposite field.

Weather permitting, the Commodores face Oregon State at 8 Central on Sunday night in another elimination game. A steady rain began to fall in the eighth and is expected to continue throughout the evening.

Should the Commodores win the next one with Oregon State, they'll play a winner-take-all game on Monday evening (weather permitting).

Vanderbilt set the tone from the beginning against San Diego starter Ivran Romero, who entered with a 1.99 ERA in 45 1/3 innings.

Bradfield Jr. coaxed an 0-2 count into a walk and then with Vaz at the plate, stole second on the next pitch. Bradfield took third on Javier Vaz’s long fly ball out to right, then, Jones walked on a 3-2 pitch before Keegan got an infield single on a smash off shortstop Jefferis’s glove for a run. Noland then took a pitch the other way into left center for a 2-0 lead and with two outs, Jack Bulger lined a single to left to score a third.

Vanderbilt’s defense did Maldonado no favors in the third. A one-out double past Keegan at first put two in scoring position before a ground-out scored a run. Then, a Kevin Sim ground ball up the middle got through second baseman Tate Kolwyck to score a second run.

But Vandy got the runs back in the fourth when the first two reached and later scored Kolwyck’s sacrifice fly and Bradfield’s infield single.

And rom there, the Commodores steadily pulled away.

After Sim's long home run off Maldonado made it 6-3, Keegan and Noland each came up huge with RBI hits in both the seventh and eighth; Keegan's last was a two-out, two-RBI double that just missed leaving the park.

The Toreros finally chased Maldonado at 114 pitches with two outs in the eighth, when Nelson Berkwich slammed the door with a strikeout with two on to hold an eight-run lead. Berkwich finished the ninth with the help of a game-ending double play.

Maldonado wasn’t an obvious choice to start on Sunday. The junior hasn’t looked like his 2021 self all year, much of which could likely be explained by an oblique injury that hampered his effectiveness early before keeping him out multiple weeks. Until Sunday, Maldonado hadn’t shown the control or command that made him elite last season.

But on Sunday, Maldonado was mostly terrific. Like last year, his best out pitch was a slider, and on Sunday, he had command of it (and seemed to take a little off it, throwing it around 80 some of the day, though he’d also touch 84-85 with it). He also showed a cutter and a change-up and was able to command his fastball (which sat around 92) also.

Two big keys for Maldonado: he was around the strike zone most of the day (69 of 114 pitches for strikes on a day in which the zone at times seemed tight), and he was able to pitch out of trouble.

To the second: Maldonado had a 1-2-3 inning just twice, one coming in the sixth when Noland started a 5-4-3 double play, the other coming on there ground-outs in the seventh.

VU 1: Keegan’s single scored Bradfield. VU, 1-0

VU 1: Noland’s single to left center scored Jones. VU, 2-0

VU 1: Bulger single to left scored Keegan. VU, 3-0

SD 3: Meidroth ground-out scored Allen. VU, 3-1

SD 3: Sim single up the middle scored Jefferis. VU 3-2

VU 4: Kolwyck sacrifice fly to center scored Hewett. VU, 4-2

VU 4: Bradfield infield single scored Bulger. VU, 5-2

VU 5: Hewett single scored Keegan. VU, 6-2

SD 5: Sim home run to left. VU, 6-3

VU 7: Keegan single through short scored Vaz. VU, 7-3

VU 7: Noland single through second scored Noland. VU, 8-3

VU 8: Keegan double off the wall in left-center scored Kolwyck, Jones. VU, 10-3

VU 8: Noland single scored Keegan. VU, 11-3

SD 8: Teijero grond-out scored Sim. VU, 11-4

VU 9: Bradfield home run to left scored Diaz, Kolwyck. VU, 14-4