Vanderbilt outlasts Skyhawks on Tuesday

At no point was it easy, but top-ranked Vanderbilt scratched out a 5-4 win over UT-Martin on Tuesday evening at Nashville’s Hawkins Field.

Pitcher Chris McElvain (1-0) picked up the win thanks to two perfect innings in the seventh and eighth, while Luke Murphy notched his sixth save of the year with a perfect ninth.

The Commodores managed just seven hits, with left fielder Jack Bulger the only Commodore to register more than one.

Vanderbilt played from behind much of the day, but tied the game and then subsequently went ahead in the bottom of the sixth when, with the bases loaded, C.J. Rodriguez was hit by a pitch and Jayson Gonzalez followed with a walk, putting Vandy up, 5-4.

Vandy has won nine straight games and 23 straight in mid-week contests.

Vanderbilt lost starting Cooper Davis, who was hurt earlier in the game, in the fourth when Matt Hogan pinch-hit for the ‘Dores starting left fielder. Vandy also played without starting right fielder Isaiah Thomas, who’s been sidelined with a groin issue, for the third-straight game.

Afterwards, coach Tim Corbin said that Davis left with “tightness in his leg,” and said he doesn’t know when Thomas will return.

The Skyhawks threw six pitchers and issued just two walks. That included a pair of weekend starters in Winston Cannon and Eric Steemstra, who each threw scoreless innings.

"I thought (UT Martin) did a nice job pitching… I thought they did a nice job of throwing the ball inside and attacking our hitters a bit… I thought they were very effective… they pitched well enough to win the baseball game," Corbin said.

Vanderbilt starter Christian Little pitched with mixed results, striking out five over four innings, but also allowing five hits, two walks and three runs (all earned), including Casey Hartford’s two-run homer in the third.

The Commodores got an RBI double from Davis in the second to take a 2-1 lead before Hartford’s homer vaulted the Skyhawks ahead.

Keegan’s infield single in the bottom of the inning tied the game, but UT-Martin went up by a run again in the top of the sixth on Blake Davis’s sacrifice fly off Hunter Owen, who threw two innings and allowed a run.

Skyhawk pitcher Seth Petry had trouble finding the plate in the sixth, when Vandy went ahead after loading the bases.

Starting second baseman Tate Kolwyck, who had hamate surgery, took fielding practice tonight, but Corbin indicated his return was still likely weeks away.