Vanderbilt third baseman Austin Martin had three hits, three runs and three RBIs, leading the Commodores to a 9-3 victory over South Carolina at Founder’s Park in Columbia, S.C., in the first game of a seven-inning game on Sunday afternoon.
Right fielder J.J. Bleday and catcher Philip Clarke each knocked in a pair of runs for Vanderbilt (37-9, 17-6 Southeastern Conference).
Starting pitcher Kumar Rocker (6-4) was the winning pitcher. He went 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking one, while Tyler Brown picked up his 10th save.
Martin had key hits in the fifth, sixth and seventh, helping the Commodores break open a tie game.
With the game tied at three in the fifth, Martin led off with a single to left and Bleday walked on a 3-2 pitch. A double steal moved each up a base and then Clarke’s sacrifice fly to right scored the go-ahead run.
In the sixth, left fielder Stephen Scott led off with a bloop single over short and took second on Harrison Ray’s sacrifice bunt.
Carolina brought in closer Brett Kerry, and Martin greeted him with a first-pitch, ground-rule double that bounced over the wall in left center to make it a two-run lead.
In the seventh, Martin ripped a two-out, bases-loaded single to left for two more, then, Bleday hit a ball to center that just missed leaving the yard. Bleday ended up with a stand-up triple, and the Commodores, a six-run lead.
Vanderbilt out-hit South Carolina, 9-5, but grounded into double plays to end the first and second and left nine on base compared to Carolina’s five.
Game 2 of the doubleheader is scheduled to start around 1:15 Central.
Notes
Brown moved into a tie for fourth on VU's single-season saves list.
Pitch counts for the weekend:
South Carolina:
Morgan: 100
Lloyd: 72
Hinson: 62
Harley: 52
Bridges: 33
Ganopulos: 16
Kerry: 8
Vanderbilt:
Fellows: 97
Rocker: 86
Smith: 54
King: 37
Brown: 21
Scoring summary
S2: Eyster double to right center scored Olson. S, 1-0
S2: Cullen sacrifice fly to right scored Eyster. S, 2-0
V3: Infante and Martin scored when Paul reached on error. Tied-2
V3: Clarke single to second scored Bleday. V, 3-2
S4: Eyster homer to right center. Tied-3
V5: Clarke sacrifice fly to right scored Martin. V, 4-3
V6: Martin ground-rule double to left-center scored Scott. V, 5-3
V7: Martin single to left scored Scott, Thomas. V, 7-3
V7: Bleday triple to center scored Martin, Ray. V, 9-3
