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Gonzalez, Paul homers power Vandy over UMass-Lowell on Saturday

Ethan Paul had a fifth-inning grand slam for Vanderbilt in Saturday's UMass-Lowell game.
Ethan Paul had a fifth-inning grand slam for Vanderbilt in Saturday's UMass-Lowell game. (Southeastern Conference)

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Vanderbilt's Jayson Gonzalez blasted two home runs, and Ethan Paul hit a grand slam, as the Commodores routed UMass-Lowell, 15-2, at Hawkins Field on Saturday afternoon.

Paul knocked in a career-high seven runs on four hits. Designated hitter Austin Martin had three hits and reached base five times. Gonzalez also had a four-hit day and drove in five.

Gonzalez hit a three-run homer and Paul's slam came as part of a 1o-run fifth. The Commodores(6-1) had 16 hits on the day.

Vanderbilt left-hander Zach King started and went 4 2/3 innings and struck out five before giving up his seventh hit and exiting in the fifth.

He gave way to lefty Jackson Gillis (2-0), who picked up the win by throwing 3 1/3 innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts.

UMass-Lowell scored with two outs in the first on Cam Climo's RBI single to center.

The lead didn't last long. The Commodores had trouble hitting River Hawks' starter Jack Riley, but finally broke through against the lefty in the fifth.

Martin led off with a single that nearly hit starting pitcher Riley, then, Connor Kaiser singled through short.

Paul then hit a fly ball to center that just kept carrying in the breeze. Center fielder Colby Maiola nearly had it, but instead, it got over his glove near the warning track and two scored.

DeMarco then grounded to shortstop Joey Castellanos, who probably should have made a play, but didn't. DeMarco instead reached on a single.

Gonzalez then hit a towering fly ball over the big wall in left that cleared by several feet, putting Vandy ahead by four.

Martin's single off Ricky Constant scored another.

Two hitters later, Paul whacked a 3-2 pitch just foul past first. On the next one, he launched it about three rows deep into the bleachers in right for a grand slam.

Gonzalez added a two-run homer to center in the eighth.

The final game of the series is scheduled for noon Central on Sunday.

NOTES

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It was VU's third-straight game of scoring exactly 15 runs.

Martin started in left, DeMarco, in center, and Bleday, in right.

Vanderbilt turned double plays in the second and fourth. The one in the fourth, a 5-4-3 started by Gonzalez, proved to be important, as UM-L had three hits in the inning and left two on.

That was the first home run of Gonzalez's career, and the first grand slam of Paul's.

It was VU's first 10-run inning since, June 1, 2015, which came in the fifth inning of the Nashville Regional against Radford.

First baseman Julian Infante is now 1-for-27 on the season and struck out six times in the last two games.

SCORING SUMMARY

UML 1: Climo single to center scored Passatempo. UML, 1-0

VU 5: Paul double to deep center scored Martin and Kaiser. VU, 2-1

VU 5: Gonzalez homer over the big wall in left scored Paul and DeMarco. VU 5-1

VU 5: Martin single scored Bleday. VU, 6-1

VU 5: Paul homer to right scored Infante, Martin and Kaiser. VU, 10-1

UML 6: Passatempo scored on Gillis's wild pitch. VU, 10-2

VU 7: Kaiser singled up the middle to score Jones. VU, 11-2

VU 7: Kaiser scored on wild pitch. VU, 12-2

VU 8: Gonzalez homer to center scored Davis. 14-2

VU 8: Paul single to right scored Grisanti. VU, 15-2

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