NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt baseball travels south to Alabama for a three-game series against the Crimson Tide.
SERIES PREVIEW: Vanderbilt and Alabama begin a three-game series in Tuscaloosa Thursday on ESPNU.
The Commodores and Crimson Tide have met 165 times dating back to first matchup in 1893.
Vandy is 8-0-1 over the past nine meetings dating back to 2015 including a three-game sweep in Tuscaloosa in 2019.
LAST TIME OUT: Vanderbilt has won four in a row with a sweep over No. 15 Kentucky at home and a midweek win vs. Georgia State on Tuesday night.
Vanderbilt’s three-game sweep over Kentucky last weekend secured a winning record in SEC play for the 16th time in Tim Corbin’s 21 seasons.
RJ Schreck homered in Tuesday’s win to extend his on-base streak to 28 games.
Vanderbilt hit three home runs in one inning Tuesday for the first time since 2016.
Vandy vs. SEC Opponents: Vanderbilt is outscoring SEC
opponents 174-103 this season.
In SEC games, Vandy leads the league in batting average (.307), ERA (4.57), and fielding percentage (.986).
RJ Schreck ranks third in batting average (.403) and RBIs (34) and tied for first in doubles (9).
Enrique Bradfield Jr. has scored the second-most runs (30) and leads the league with 14 stolen bases and 22 walks in SEC play.
SUPERB SOUTHPAWS: Left-handed pitchers Carter Holton, Hunter Owen and Devin Futrell have anchored the weekend
starting rotation this season.
Combined, the trio owns a 3.14 ERA with a 13-2 record.
In SEC action, Futrell leads the conference with a 2.43 ERA and has allowed just six walks, tied for tops in the league.
On the season, all three arms rank top-10 in the SEC in ERA. Futrell (2.56) is second, Owen (3.42) sixth and Holton (3.51) seventh.
WATCH LISTS: Vanderbilt is well-represented on multiple award midseason watch lists.
Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Carter Holton are two of 45 players named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.
Jonathan Vastine is on the Brooks Wallace Award watch list, honoring the nation’s top shortstops.
Devin Futrell is one of 61 pitchers on the College Baseball Foundation Pitcher of the Year watch list.
Nick Maldonado is one of 56 pitchers named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List.
THIRD AND SHORT: Jonathan Vastine (0.983) and Davis Diaz (0.979) have committed just four errors combined since
moving to third and short, respectively on March 3 vs. Nebraska.
A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN: Enrique Bradfield Jr. leads all active players in NCAA D1 with 123 career stolen bases.
Bradfield stole his 97th career base vs. UCLA (Feb. 26) to break the program record set by Charles DeFrance (1980-82).
The junior outfielder’s 123 career stolen bases ranks fifth in SEC history. Tennessee’s Mike Basse (1989-91) holds the all-time record of 145. Tennessee’s Chris Burke is fourth at 124.
Bradfield is also chasing the program record for runs scored of 203. He currently ranks fifth at 183 and is eighth among active NCAA D-I players.
COMMODORE CHALLENGE: Vanderbilt has one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2023.
Vanderbilt enters the weekend fifth in RPI with the 16th toughest schedule.
Vandy is 13-3 against teams ranked by either D1Baseball or USA Today and 18-7 against top-50 RPI opponents.
