Three VU pitchers blank Dayton in Saturday's Game Two

Zach King, Ethan Smith and Jake Eder combined to strike out 12 as the Commodores (9-2) registered their first shutout of 2019 by blanking Dayton, 2-0, at Nashville’s Hawkins Field on Saturday evening.

Third baseman Harrison Ray had a hit and drove in Vanderbilt’s only runs by knocking in center fielder Pat DeMarco twice.

Those came in the second and fourth innings.

Smith (2-0) picked up the win, going 3 2/3 innings in relief of King. He ran into trouble in the eighth, giving up a single and two walks to load the bases with two outs.

But the freshman recovered to strike out left fielder Connor Echols with two outs to end the inning.

In the ninth, Eder hit right fielder Michael Cleary with a pitch with one out, but the Commodores turned a 4-6-3 double play, started by Austin Martin, to end the game.

It’s Eder’s second save.

Both Martin and J.J. Bleday saw their hitting streaks end at 20.

However, each walked once, extending their on-base streaks to 26 and 39 games, respectively.

First baseman Julian Infante pinch-hit in the fourth inning, flying out to center. It was Infante's first appearance since suffering a head injury in the season opener. Infante went 0 for 2.

VU ranks 58th in the RPI, with a No. 120 strength of schedule, according to WarrenNolan.com as of 7:45 Central on Saturday night.

Vanderbilt swept the three-game series with the Flyers (1-6-1).