TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 9, Western Kentucky 1
@#1 Vanderbilt 16,
UT Martin 3
BELMONT 9, WESTERN KENTUCKY 1
NASHVILLE - Despite the bitter cold temperatures at Rose Park, the Bruins witnessed no loss of power.
The Bruins powered past the Toppers with 15 hits, four of which were homeruns. The Bruins won 9-1 against the WKU Hilltoppers.
Aaron Quillen receives his first start and also his first win on the mound for the Bruins. In two innings pitched he struck out 3.
#1 VANDERBILT 16, UT MARTIN 3
NASHVILLE - Nico Zych continued his torrid stretch of play to begin the season with three more hits and a run scored today but the University of Tennessee at Martin baseball team fell 16-3 to defending national champion and current No. 1 ranked Vanderbilt.
Luis Paublini also reached base three times (two hits, walk) and scored a run while Jake Deason drove in a pair of runs for the Skyhawks (1-7). Mike Murphy accounted for UT Martin’s other RBI while Matt Hirsch scored a run for a Skyhawk offense that collected 10 hits against the nation’s top team.
The Commodores tallied one run in the bottom of the first before UT Martin starting pitcher Daniel Shaw stranded a runner in scoring position with two straight flyouts to end the inning.
UT Martin threatened to make some noise in the top of the second. Paublini lined a double down the left field line with one away and later advanced to third on a passed ball. Hirsch drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on the corners but Vanderbilt escaped the jam to keep the score at 1-0.
Vanderbilt added two runs on a two-out, two-run triple in the bottom of the second before scoring eight runs (all with two outs) in the third inning.
The Skyhawks were able to get on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth. Paublini reached base on a walk but was later erased on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Hirsch. Two pitches later, Deason roped a double into the right field corner to score Hirsch and break up Vanderbilt’s shutout bid in the process.
Patrick Bernard then shut down the Commodores in the bottom of the fourth, retiring the side in order on only 11 pitches.
Alex Martin then entered the contest in the fifth and he was just as masterful, needing just 11 pitches to face the minimum numbers of batters in a scoreless frame.
Martin’s quick inning gave the Skyhawks some momentum in the top of the sixth. Zych, Paublini and Hirsch pieced together three straight singles with one away, loading the bases for Deason. Zych raced home when Deason hit into a fielder’s choice and UT Martin tacked on another run when Murphy went with an outside pitch to send an RBI single through the right side, making the score 11-3.
Vanderbilt then scored three runs in the sixth before Matt Poteete became the third straight reliever to silence the Commodore bats, as the freshman left-hander used only seven pitches to get through a perfect bottom of the seventh.
Deason was hit by a pitch while Murphy and Nick Pribble followed with walks to load the bases in the top of the eighth but the Skyhawks couldn’t generate a run.
The Commodores would add two more runs in the bottom half of the frame to conclude the game’s scoring.