Vanderbilt baseball (9-1) made it eight wins in a row after two big early innings and strong pitching shut down the UCLA Bruins (7-3) to take their first game in the Southern California College Baseball Classic 8-3.
Third baseman Brodie Johnston set the tone with a three-run home run in the first inning after Rustan Rigdon singled and Riley Nelson walked. DH Mac Rose made it back-to-back-jacks to give the Commodores a 4-0 lead before blinking an eye.
Vanderbilt starting pitcher JD Thompson put together his third consecutive strong outing of the season despite a shaky second frame. The Bruins drew a walk and hit a double to start the inning on the right foot.
JD THOMPSON!
Strikeout to end the bottom of the fifth, his eighth tonight.
📺 B1G+ pic.twitter.com/cykG8liumP
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) March 1, 2025
UCLA loaded the bases on a wild pitch third strike but could only score two runs after Thompson forced a sacrifice fly, a ground out and an infield pop out to escape the inning with minimal damage. Thompson struck out eight and allowed just two runs on one hit and one walk over five innings of work and earned his first win of the year for his efforts.
Johnston followed up first inning home run with a triple in the third inning that scored Nelson for his fourth RBI of the game. Catcher Colin Barczi singled to score Johnston after Rose was hit by pitch and shortstop Jonathan Vastine brought them both in with a double to stretch the Vanderbilt lead to 8-2.
The Commodores offense loaded the bases again in the eighth inning after stacking up a couple walks, but couldn’t add to their lead as Johnston grounded out to end the threat.
Vanderbilt’s bullpen didn’t let Thompson down as right-hander Connor Ferrell struck out two in his only inning of work. Right-hander Alex Kranzler gave up a hit in the seventh and a solo home run in the eighth but that was the only hiccup. Kranzler closed the game, finishing with three strikeouts with one earned run.
The Commodores continue the weekend on Saturday against the USC Trojans at 4 p.m. CT.
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