Left fielder Stephen Scott homered and drove in five and pitcher Mason Hickman threw six innings of one-run ball, leading Vanderbilt to an 11-1 win over Auburn at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala., in VU’s first game in the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Wednesday evening.
Right fielder J.J. Bleday went 5 for 5 for the Commodores (46-10), who’ll play the winner of the nightcap between Mississippi State and LSU.
Scott’s eighth-inning, two-run single off Blake Shilleci ended the game with one out in the inning due to the SEC’s run rule, which ends the game when a team has a 10-run lead after seven innings and each team has had an equal number of offensive innings.
It’s VU’s fourth win over Auburn (33-24) in four games against the Tigers, its sixth win in a row and 20th in its last 21 games.
Hickman improved to 7-0, and Jake Eder threw two scoreless innings to finish.
The Tigers used seven pitchers, none of whom could much slow VU down.
Center fielder Pat DeMarco led off the second by smashing a double past third, and then took third on a wild pitch, and then Auburn went to the bullpen to relieve starter Kyle Gray.
After second baseman Harrison Ray was hit by a pitch and stole second, catcher Ty Duvall lined a single to center off Ryan Watson for two runs.
After third baseman Austin Martin reached on an error, AU went to Brooks Fuller. Martin stole second and took third on another Bleday single to center, then came home when DH Philip Clarke bounced a single through second, chasing Fuller for righty Richard Fitts.
DeMarco greeted Fitts with a double to left-center that bounced on the warning track to score another. Scott lined a single past first for two more before adding a solo homer off Fitts the next inning.
Key takeaways
It wasn’t Mason Hickman’s best outing, but it was certainly a good one.
Excepting a brief period in the first where he lost his control over about a six-pitch run, and the home run to Holland, Mason Hickman was in command the rest of the time. Hickman gave up a double to Rankin Woley down the left-field line in the seventh and departed after that, his 102nd pitch.
Just 58 of those pitches were strikes—a low number for the sophomore—but Hickman was mostly around the zone without giving Auburn hitters much to use to their advantage.
Scott gets hot when the weather does.
Scott started to get into a groove in the Arkansas series, before a minor knee injury sidelined him for a couple of games. He picked it up last week, bashing a homer against MTSU before blaming three against Kentucky. On Wednesday, Scott hammered one well out the opposite way to left, making for his fifth home run in five games.
It’s reminiscent of last year, when Scott started and continued a torrid home-run pace a few weeks before post-season play—one that continued into the NCAA Tournament.
Notes
The Commodores hit into double plays to end the first and second.
Miami owner Derek Jeter was in attendance to watch Bleday, whom the Marlins could target with the No. 5 overall selection in next month’s draft.
Scoring summary
V2: Duvall single to center scored DeMarco and Ray. V, 2-0
V3: Clarke single through second scored Martin. V, 3-0
V3: DeMarco double to deep left-center scored Clarke. V, 4-0
V3: Scott single to right scored DeMarco, Bleday. V, 6-0
A4: Holland home run to left off Hickman. V, 6-1 V5: Scott homer to left. V, 7-1
V7: Duvall ground-out scored Clarke. V, 8-1
V8: Bleday single scored Martin. V, 9-1
V8: Scott single to right scored Paul, Bleday. V, 11-1
