Baseball: Vanderbilt 9, Middle Tennessee 1

NASHVILLE– Top-ranked Vanderbilt wasted no time scoring seven runs in the first two innings en route to a 9-1 win over Middle Tennessee State Tuesday night at Hawkins Field.

After the Blue Raiders scratched out a run in the top of the first the Commodores scored three runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead for good. Jason Esposito’s groundout to third base drove in a run to tie the game and Curt Casali’s single plated two more to cap the rally. Vandy added four more runs in the second inning. Anthony Gomez drove in the first run with a single up the middle and Esposito tacked on three more runs with his second home run of the year into the left field bleachers. Casali added another run with a double in the fifth and Mike Yastrzemski knocked in a run with a bases loaded hit by pitch to end the night’s scoring in the seventh.

Aaron Westlake, Joe Loftus and Gomez all had two hits and two runs scored to lead VU. Gomez pushed his hitting streak to 25 games with a first inning single. Justin Guidry and Will Skinner each had two hits for the Raiders in the loss.

Dores’ starter T.J. Pecoraro earned his fifth win giving up one unearned run on one hit with three strikeouts over two innings. Sam Selman, Jack Armstrong and Kevin Ziomek all pitched two scoreless frames with Navery Moore pitching a scoreless ninth inning to seal the victory. MTSU starter Joey McClung was saddled with the loss allowing seven runs on seven hits in two innings.

The Commodores return to action against No. 21 Alabama on Friday night at Hawkins Field. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on CSS and streamed over the Internet on ESPN3.com. For ticket information visit vucommodores.com or call 615.322.GOLD.

           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E
MTSU       1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 4 2
Vanderbilt 3 4 0 0 1 1 0 0 X - 9 9 1

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