NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Vanderbilt right-hander Ethan Smith threw five shutout innings as the Commodores beat St. Louis, 10-2, at Hawkins Field on Wednesday afternoon.
Vandy jumped on starter Scott Youngbrandt for five runs in the third, including Austin Martin’s three-run homer. Martin added a solo shot later.
The teams played through a light snow in mid-30s weather.
The Commodores (8-2) have won seven straight.
Ethan Smith excellent again
Right-hander Ethan Smith made his third appearance of the year, and all three have been good.
Smith limited St. Louis to two hits and no runs and struck out seven hitters. That came mostly off his fastball, which was consistently clock at 91 on the stadium gun--a little below where the sophomore typically sits--and complemented it with a breaking pitch.
Smith's control lagged a bit. He threw 70 pitches (47 for strikes) and walked three.
Keegan makes 2020 debut
Dominic Keegan, who would have been VU’s first baseman to start the season if not for an off-season blood clot, made his 2020 debut. He hit in the fifth spot and started at first.
Keegan lined to left his first trip, lined to left, struck out looking, was hit by a pitch, singled and was hit by another pitch his last trip.
Maldonado sees time
Freshman right-hander Nick Maldonado threw two innings on Wednesday.
He ran into trouble in the sixth--his first frame, during which he had runners on the corners with one out--but got a pair of strikeouts to get out of that.
In the seventh, he gave up an infield single before a double and a hard-hit single produced St. Louis's first run, and a hard-hit single up the middle, another. He escaped further damage with a strikeout looking on a fastball.
Maldonado used his change-up effectively at times on Wednesday, while sitting 87-89 with his fastball.
Scoring summary
V 2: Ray single to center scored Noland. V, 1-0
V 2: Rodriguez ground-out scored Thomas. V, 2-0
V 2: Martin homer to left scored Young and Davis. V, 5-0
V 3: Thomas scored as Young reached on an error. V, 6-0
V 3: Davis ground-out scored Ray. V, 7-0
V 3: Rodriguez singled to score Young. V, 8-0
V 6: Duvall scored on error. V, 9-0
S 7: Bartlett single scored Frieling. V, 9-1
S 7: Garella single scored Smith. V, 9-2
V 8: Martin homer to center. V, 10-2
