Vanderbilt got 11 hits and took 10 walks, and four Commodore pitchers combined to give up just six hits, as VU bombed Presbyterian, 15-2, on Wednesday evening at Hawkins Field.
Freshman pitcher Jake Eder, making his first college appearance, threw four scoreless innings and picked up a win. He gave up just one hit and one hit batsman.
Ten different Commodores had hits, with shortstop Connor Kaiser's two leading the way. Freshman catcher Philip Clarke had the big blow with a three-run homer in the first inning.
Kaiser (two RBIs) was the only Vanderbilt player besides Clarke to knock in more than one run.
Vanderbilt improves to 4-1, and took both games from the Blue Hose.
With two outs in the first, Clarke launched the first pitch he saw off Presbyterian starter Jack McLaughlin deep into the right-field bleachers for a 3-0 lead.
Those were all the runs the pitching staff needed. Five more Commodores--Justin Willis, A.J. Franklin, Paxton Stover and Justin Wilson--combined on four more shutout innings.
Freshman Aaron Brown finished the game. He gave up three hits and two runs, one earned, in an inning of work.
NOTES
Eder threw just 30 pitches in the first three innings, and 45 total.
First baseman Julian Infante smacked a double for his first hit of the season.
Center fielder Pat DeMarco has hit in each of his first five games, however, Wednesday was the first contest in which he didn't register multiple hits.
Willis, Franklin and Wilson made their collegiate pitching debuts.
Outfielder Cooper Davis made his college debut, and got his first hit. He played in left field.
Left-handed pitcher A.J. Franklin, a redshirt sophomore, made his collegiate debut and induced a double play on the only hitter he faced.
Garrett Blaylock had the first hit and RBI of his career.
It's far too early to matter, but Vanderbilt's RPI is 10 as of Wednesday night, according to WarrenNolan.com.
SCORING SUMMARY
VU 1: Clarke three-run homer to right scored Paul and Martin. VU, 3-0
VU 3: Infante grounded out to third, scoring Paul. VU, 4-0
VU 4: Jones scored on Kaiser's infield single. VU, 5-0
VU 6: Kaiser scored on wild pitch. VU, 6-0
VU 6: DeMarco doubled to left center, scoring Kaiser. VU, 7-0
VU 7: Kaiser singled to center, scoring Blaylock and Grisanti. VU, 9-0
VU 8: Blaylock doubled to right, scoring Duvall. VU, 10-0
VU 8: Davis's infield single scored Grisanti. VU, 11-0
VU 8: Blaylock scores as Kaiser reaches on error. VU, 12-0
VU 8: Davis scored on wild pitch. VU, 13-0
VU 8: Ray tripled to left, scoring Kaiser. VU, 14-0
VU 8: Ray scored as Fentress reaches on error. VU, 15-0
PC 9: White scored on error. VU, 15-1
PC 9: Wise scored on Priaulx single. VU, 15-2