Bulger homers twice as Vandy sweeps Ole Miss

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – No. 6 Vanderbilt completed his three-game sweep of defending No. 3 Ole Miss with a 7-2 victory Saturday at Hawkins Field.

The Commodores rallied from a 2-0 deficit to score seven unanswered points to beat the Rebels for the first time since 2013.

Ole Miss struck first with a solo home run in the top of the second off Jacob Gonzalez’s bat.

Calvin Harris doubled Ole Miss’s lead with a solo shot to open the top of the fourth.

The Dores broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning with a three-run inning. Enrique Bradfield Jr. worked a walk to start off the frame and Davis Diaz was hit by a pitch to set up two with no one out. Bradfield and Diaz executed a double steal and RJ Schreck brought Bradfield home with a sacrifice fly to center.

Jack Bulger then launched a two-run homer, his second long ball of the week, to give Vanderbilt a 3-2 lead.

Bulger delivered again in the bottom of the sixth to extend Vandy’s lead to 4-2. Diaz reached on a single and Schreck walked. Both runners took off on a 3-2 pitch to Bulger and the junior singled in the middle, allowing Diaz to score from second and Schreck to move into third.

The Dores weren’t done yet. Bulger took off to second base and paused to get into a rundown. Schreck jumped home and beat an errant pitch to complete a successful double steal.

RJ Austin then singled to left and Chris Maldonado was walked intentionally to load the bases, bringing Matthew Polk to the mat. Polk singled down the third baseline to bring Bulger and Austin to the plate and give the Dores a 7–2 lead.

Devin Futrell (W, 4-1) held Ole Miss to two runs on three hits in five innings. Sam Hliboki and Nick Maldonado each threw two scoreless innings. Hliboki struckout three batters while giving up one basehit. Maldonado did not allow a hit in the last two frames.

Vanderbilt’s pitching held Ole Miss’s powerful offense to just four runs in 26 innings, while striking out 23 batters.

Vanderbilt (16-5, 3-0 SEC) returns to First Horizon Park to face Lipscomb at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the second of two All 4 Lou Showdown games. The Commodores defeated Belmont last Tuesday at First Horizon Park. The proceeds of both games benefit the Live Like Lou Foundation. Tuesday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN+.