JD Thompson, Devin Futrell lead Vanderbilt baseball to snap losing streak to Tennessee

Vanderbilt baseball got one of its best pitching performances of the year when it needed it most Sunday.

With the Commodores (34-18, 12-15 SEC) mired in two separate losing streaks, one to the Vols (42-10, 19-8) and one in SEC games overall, they desperately needed a win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes in good shape. Though Vanderbilt dropped the series, it ended the losing streak by salvaging the series finale, 3-0.

Vanderbilt got exceptional pitching. JD Thompson started things off with six shutout innings, walking three and striking out nine. With two runners on and nobody out in the seventh inning, the Commodores turned to Devin Futrell out of the bullpen after Futrell threw five innings against Louisville on Tuesday. Futrell struck out all three batters he faced.

The two pitchers combined to shut out Tennessee for the first time this season.

The Commodores scored early, with two runs in the first inning and one in the second, but the offense was relatively quiet after that.

JD Thompson shines for Vanderbilt baseball

Thompson has been in and out of the rotation and missed time with injuries during the year, but he shined in one of the biggest starts of the season.

Thompson kept hitters off-balance with his mix of a fastball that hit 95 mph multiple times, a slider and a changeup.

Vanderbilt was issued a warning in the fifth inning when Thompson appeared to gesture at the Tennessee dugout while walking off the mound in apparent reference to his foreign substance ejection in April.

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Alan Espinal's home run starts the scoring for Vanderbilt baseball

Vanderbilt got on the board first for the first time in the series when RJ Austin singled with two outs, then Alan Espinal hit an opposite-field home run, his 10th of the season.

The Commodores added on another run in the second inning after Camden Kozeal singled, Jack Bulger walked and Jonathan Vastine hit a two-out RBI bloop single.

Tennessee reliever Nate Snead kept Vanderbilt quiet through the middle innings. He gave up five hits in 4⅓ innings but scattered them all.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.