By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
The No. 2 Vanderbilt Commodores evened the series with No. 18 Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon after a 13-2 victory.
Ole Miss (35-11, 15-11 SEC) fell behind early as the Commodores used the long ball to secure the win behind a dominant performance on the mound by Jack Leiter. Vanderbilt hit a total of seven home runs against the Rebels.
The Rebels starter Derek Diamond only allowed three hits in the first four innings. All of the hits were home runs. Isaiah Thomas got things going in the second. In the fourth, the Commodores Dominic Keegan and Spencer Jones smashed two-run home runs.
In the fifth, Vanderbilt’s Troy LaNeve led the inning off with a solo home run.
Diamond tossed 4.1 innings surrendered six runs on five hits and struck out seven sluggers.
A home run for the Commodores came in the seventh, off the barrel of Parker Noland. In the eighth, Carter Young hit a home run and in the ninth, Thomas hit his second of the game.
Bianco brought in Tyler Myers in the fifth to face Vandy’s lineup. Myers worked 1.2 inn’s allowed four runs on four hits with a strikeout. Brandon Johnson (2.0) and Cody Adcock (1.0) came in for relief in the game.
Vanderbilt’s hurler Leiter surrendered a run on two hits in six innings worth of work, struck out 13 Rebels, only allowed three walks and hit two batters to pick up the win.
Ole Miss got on the board in the sixth. After getting the bases loaded Jacob Gonzalez came in on a missed swing by TJ McCants.
In the eighth, Ole Miss scored a run as catcher Hayden Dunhurst led the inning off with a base knock and scored on a hit by Justin Bench to right field 12-2.
Ole Miss and Vanderbilt return to the diamond on Sunday for a deciding rubber match for the series. The first pitch is set for 2 p.m. on SEC Network.
