Baseball: Vanderbilt 11, Oregon State 1

NASHVILLE-- Vanderbilt scored four runs in the first inning with two outs and never looked back, cruising to an 11-1 victory over Oregon State in the first game of the Super Regional at Hawkins Field.

After a pair of groundouts to start the bottom of the first, walks to Aaron Westlake and Curt Casali ignited a four-run, two-out rally. RBI-singles from Mike Yastrzemski and Jason Esposito put Vandy on top and Connor Harrell’s single through the right side capped the four-run rally. Casali drove in a run in the fourth inning with a groundout to second base for the second out of the inning before Yastrzemski’s three-run homer to right-center made it 8-0 Vanderbilt. The two-out hits continued in the fifth with Tony Kemp’s RBI-single and Jason Esposito’s two-run home run in the sixth also came with two outs. By the end of the night 10 of the Commodores 11 runs came with two outs.

Yastrzemski led all players and equaled the school NCAA Tournament record with four RBI and Esposito added three of his own. Westlake, Casali, Yastrzemski and Esposito all scored two runs apiece in the victory. Jake Rodriguez provided three of Oregon State’s four hits, including a RBI-single in the seventh inning.

Vanderbilt starter Sonny Gray earned his 12th win of the year working 6.2 innings. The right-hander scattered four hits allowing one run with four strikeouts. Corey Williams worked the final 2.1 innings for the Commodores fanning three and allowing no hits. Oregon State Sam Gaviglio was pegged with the loss allowing 10 runs on nine hits and six walks over 5.1 innings.

The win marked the first time in school history that Vanderbilt has won the opening game of a Super Regional. The team’s offensive output of 11 runs matched the school record for runs scored in the NCAA Tournament and is the most in a Super Regional game.

The Commodores hand the ball to Grayson Garvin tomorrow night looking to advance to the school’s first-ever College World Series with a win. The Beavers have yet to name a starter. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. on ESPN2. Tickets for Saturday’s game are still available by visiting vucommodores.com or calling 615.322.GOLD.

             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9    R  H E
OREGON STATE 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -  1  4 0
VANDERBILT   4 0 0 4 1 2 0 0 X - 11 11 1

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