Nick Banks went 2-for-4 with and RBI and scored two runs for Texas A&M.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Texas A&M became the 12th NCAA Division I program and the first SEC team to hit the 2,500-win plateau with a 10-4 win against the No. 7 Vanderbilt Commodores on Friday evening at Hawkins Field.
Freshman Nick Banks led an Aggie armada that pounded out 12 hits, including four extra-base hits. Banks went 2-for-4 with one double, two runs and one RBI. Blake Allemand, Cole Lankford and Krey Bratsen each logged two hits.
The Aggies fired the first shot across the Commodores’ bow in the top of the second inning, scoring four runs. Hunter Melton sparked the rally by legging out an infield single to short to start the frame. Banks followed by snaking a single past the glove of a diving Vanderbilt shortstop Vince Conde and into shallow left-center to put two runners on. Melton came around to score when Commodore second baseman Dansby Swanson was unable to glove a throw at first on a sacrifice bunt by Logan Nottebrok.
With two runners in scoring position after the error, Troy Stein grounded out to second base to knock in Banks for the 2-0 advantage. After Ronnie Gideon struck out swinging for the second out of the inning, Bratsen singled off the glove off the glove of Swanson up the middle to push Nottebrok across. Bratsen stole second base and came around to score when Allemand deposited a triple down the left-field line for the 4-0 advantage.
Vanderbilt (26-9, 6-7 SEC) got on the board in the home half of the third. Nolan Rogers gapped a double to right-center to start the frame and a sharp single back to the mound by John Norwood put runners on the corners. Ro Coleman put sacrifice squeeze down the first base line to push Rogers across and cut the lead to 4-1. Aggie starter Jason Jester got out of the jam by inducing a pop up from Xavier Turner and a grounder to third base by Swanson to end the inning.
Texas A&M (21-14, 6-7 SEC) reclaimed a four-run lead in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, Bratsen punched a hit out of the reach of a diving Vanderbilt outfielder Rhett Wiseman down the rightfield line that rolled to the wall for a triple. Allemand plated Bratsen by slapping a sharp single to leftfield for the 5-1 advantage.
The Aggies inflated the cushion to 7-1 in the top of the fifth. Lankford poked a leadoff single to the gap in left-center and Hunter Melton followed with a six-pitch walk. Banks one-hopped a ball over the wall in right-centerfield for the ground-rule double, driving in Lankford. After the Nottebrok drew a six-pitch walk to load the bases, Stein grounded into a double play to push Melton across for the six-run advantage.
The Commodores trimmed the Aggies’ sails a bit in the home half of the fifth. Norwood started the rally with a single to centerfield and Coleman drew a five-pitch walk to put two runners on with no outs. Turner worked the count full before he bounced a single through the left side of the infield, plating Norwood and driving Jester from the contest. Parker Ray came in and committed a throwing error on Swanson’s sacrifice bunt attempt to allow Coleman to score and cut the Aggie advantage to 7-3. Ray rebounded by striking out the next three batters in the frame.
The Aggies used a three-run seventh inning to secure the mutiny of the Commodores. Jace Statum was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Banks dropped a single into centerfield. A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position and after Nottebrok grounded out to short for the first out of the inning, Stein drew a five-pitch walk to fill the bags with Ags. Ryne Birk cleared the bases with a three-run single down the rightfield line for the 10-3 lead.
Vanderbilt’s last rally came up short in the seventh. With one out, Turner singled up the middle and scored on a two-out double by Bryan Reynolds.
In his first career start, Jester received no decision for his effort. He allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits and two walks in 4.0 innings plus three batters in the fifth. Ray (4-2) fanned a career-high 10 in the win. He allowed just one run on two hits in 5.0 innings of relief.
All-American Tyler Beede (5-4) allowed seven runs, four earned, on nine hits and four walks while striking out four in 5.0 innings in the loss.
Reynolds led Vanderbilt’s offense going 3-for-4 with two doubles and one RBI. Turner and Norwood both went 2-for-4.
