NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Vanderbilt won 2-0 over Florida on Thursday night in the series opener at Hawkins Field in Nashville. The Commodores scored one run in the second inning and added an insurance run in the eighth to secure the win.
The story of the night was the starting pitching for both teams. Florida's Logan Shore scattered six hits over seven innings and allowed just one run while striking out five Commodores. On the mound for Vanderbilt, Carson Fulmer pitched nine shutout innings and limited the Gators to just six hits in the game.
In the second inning, Vanderbilt first baseman Zander Wiel led off with a double and Bryan Reynolds followed with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, Jeren Kendall walked to load the bases. Tyler Campbell hit a ball through the left side to plate the first run of the game, but Shore induced a double play ball to end the threat.
The Gators threatened in the fifth inning when Mike Rivera drew a one-out walk and Ryan Larson followed with a single. After a wild pitch advanced both runners, Florida failed to capitalize as Dalton Guthrie struck out and Richie Martin fouled out to end the inning.
In the eighth inning, Rhett Wiseman led off with a single just over the reach of Martin. Wiseman advanced to second on a sacrifice and then to third on a ground out. Will Toffey brought him home with a two-out RBI single into right field for the final margin.
Postgame Quotes
Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan
On tonight's game:
“I thought both teams played really well; it's unfortunate somebody had to lose. I thought Logan [Shore] threw the ball good. Fulmer was good. We swung at too many breaking balls in the dirt. We did what we needed to do. We hit the ball well in the fourth inning and didn't have much to show for it. We had the tying run at the plate in the ninth. [Fulmer] just made some pitches when he needed to. He gets all the credit. 124 pitches, he attacked the whole night. We've just got to figure out a way to put some runs on the board.”
Postgame Notes
- Florida fell to 3-6 in game one of SEC series this season.
- Buddy Reed extended his hitting streak to seven games with a triple in the fourth inning.
- Ryan Larson (2-for-3)had his 10th multi-hit game of the season, the 14th of his career.
- Florida lost for the first time this season when allowing two runs or less. They entered the game 18-0 in games allowing two or fewer runs.
- The Gators played error-free baseball for the 29th time in 50 games.
Up Next
The Gators and Commodores will meet tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. (ET), as sophomore left-hander A.J. Puk (6-3, 5.08) will oppose VU junior lefty Philip Pfeifer (3-3, 3.88). The game can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell. Live video will be available on the SEC Network +.
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