Vanderbilt smacks Florida on Friday

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Second baseman Ethan Paul had five hits and drove in six runs, helping Vanderbilt hammer Florida, 15-2, at Hawkins Field on Friday night.

DH Ty Duvall each had three hits and knocked in four runs. His three-run double was the key hit in a six-run third inning.

Left fielder Stephen Scott added a career-high four hits for the Commodores (18-5, 3-2 Southeastern Conference).

VU had 19 hits on the evening, the most Florida has yielded this season.

Meanwhile, starter Patrick Raby threw six scoreless innings of one-hit baseball, though he did walk six in throwing 102 pitches. He lowered his ERA to 0.57.

The Commodores, who won the Thursday game, clinched the three-game series. It's the first time VU has done that in the annual series against the Gators since a 2-1 series win in 2014.

VU did a remarkable job off talented UF right-hander Jack Leftwich, who entered with a 3.29 ERA and four walks in 27 1/3 innings. The ‘Dores worked counts and forced Leftwich to throw 97 pitches before chasing him with two outs in the third.

Raby’s control abandoned him in the third. With one out, he walked four hitters in a row, but avoided giving up a run because catcher Philip Clarke threw out Blake Reese for the inning’s second out in between.

The senior escaped the jam by getting Nelson Maldonado to pop to Julian Infante at first on a 1-2 pitch.

That's where the game began to turn.

In the bottom of the inning, right fielder J.J. Bleday blooped a single to center, then, Scott hit a hard grounder down the first-base line for a double before Clarke walked to load the bases with one out.

Ray then worked the count to 3-2 before chopping a ball to shallow third, beating the throw for the first run. Paul followed by lining a 1-2 pitch the other way to left for another.

Then, Duvall lined a 1-2 pitch into the right-field corner, clearing the bases. Center fielder Cooper Davis followed by clobbering a 3-2 pitch to the alley in right for an RBI double.

In the fourth, Paul lined a single to right on a 3-2 pitch to score two more and chase Leftwich.

Paul and Duvall added ground-rule doubles to almost the same spot in right-center to make it 10-0.

Saturday's Game 3 starts at 1 Central.

Former pitcher Dave Stewart, who won 168 MLB games, threw out the first pitch.

Center fielder Pat DeMarco missed his third-straight game.

Jake Eder sat 97-98 with his fastball in the seventh.

Ethan Smith hit 97 with his fastball.

Raby was sitting 88-91 with his fastball in the first, and touched 93 (this according to the stadium gun).

Vanderbilt’s consecutive scoreless inning streak ended at 25 innings. That’s the longest streak since the 2011 team had 32 in a row.

Florida didn’t start regulars Austin Langworthy and Wil Dalton for what was termed a “coach’s decision.”

VU hit .463 on balls in play.

Attendance was 3,626—the first sellout of the season, and 114th in Hawkins Field history.

V3: Ray infield single scored Bleday. V, 1-0

V3: Paul single to left scored Scott. V, 2-0

V3: Duvall double to right scored Clarke, Ray and Paul. V, 5-0

V3: Davis double to right-center scored Duvall. V, 6-0

V4: Paul single to right scored Bleday, Scott. V, 8-0

V6: Paul ground-rule double to right scored Ray. V, 9-0

V6: Duvall ground-rule double to right scored Paul. V, 10-0

V6: Martin single to right scored Duvall. V, 11-0

F7: Eder walks McConnell, scoring Reese. V, 11-1

F7: Eder walk scored Miozzi. V, 11-2

V7: Paul double to right scored Scott and Ray. V, 13-2

V7: Infante ground-out scored Paul. V, 14-2

V8: Ray scored on Fabian's error. V, 15-2