Vanderbilt baseball run rules Ole Miss on Matthew Polk's game-ending single in SEC opener

Vanderbilt baseball needed just one SEC game to take advantage of the SEC's new rules.

The No. 8 Commodores (14-5, 1-0 SEC) got an unconventional walk-off as Matthew Polk's single in the bottom of the eighth inning ended the game with Vanderbilt winning, 12-2, over No. 3 Ole Miss (14-4, 0-1). New conference rules for 2023 state that if a team is up by 10 runs or more after seven innings, the game will end.

The Commodores do have one other run-rule game this season against UAB, but that game was not in walk-off fashion as it ended after the seventh inning.

Vanderbilt shined in all facets of the game. Starter Carter Holton went six innings and allowed two runs with no walks and five strikeouts while the offense tallied 17 hits, a season high. Chris Maldonado, Polk and Jonathan Vastine each had three hits while Davis Diaz, RJ Schreck and Parker Noland had two hits apiece. Noland, Maldonado, Polk and Schreck each hit home runs.

"I was just trying to find a good pitch to hit, trying to touch first to get that run in," Polk said of his game-ending single. "I assumed no matter what happened, we had to play defense. But when they said it was over, I was like, 'Oh, that's cool. We get to save some pitchers for tomorrow and the rest of the weekend.' "

Polk also made a diving catch in left field in the win.

The Commodores face Ole Miss again on Friday (6 p.m. CT) and Saturday (1 p.m. CT), both on SEC Network+.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt baseball run rules Ole Miss on Polk's single in SEC opener