Hot bats and strong pitching put the Vanderbilt Commodores a win away from a second consecutive national championship Monday night.
Vandy scored 7 runs in the 1st inning, highlighted by a 3-run home run from Jason Gonzalez and stud Jack Leiter on the mound that was plenty of cushion. Leiter stuck out 8 and allowed just 2 runs on 2 hits and Nick Maldonado pitched three innings of shutout relief for his ninth save as the Dores bested the SEC counterpart 8-2 in game one of the College World Series finals. Vanderbilt can close out the series with a win tonight at 6:00 on ESPN.