#19 Vanderbilt Commodores (27-10, 8-7 SEC) vs. #5 Georgia Bulldogs (33-6, 10-5 SEC)
Game 1: Thursday, April 17 @ 6 p.m. CT • SEN+
Game 2: Friday, April 18 @ 6 p.m. CT • SECN+
Game 3: Saturday, April 19 @ 2 p.m. CT • SECN+
Weekend Preview: Vanderbilt hosts Georgia for three games beginning Thursday at Hawkins Field.
- Vanderbilt and Georgia will be meeting for the 251st time since 1897 on Thursday. Georgia leads the all-time series 127-123.
- The home team has swept each of the last two series. Vandy swept the Bulldogs in Nashville in 2023 and Georgia repaid the favor in Athens last season.
- This series will be the fourth against a ranked opponent for Vanderbilt. The Commodores have the fourth-ranked strength of schedule according to WarrenNolan.com.
- Both teams enter the series with a top-10 RPI. Georgia is atop the NCAA RPI rankings while Vandy sits in seventh.
Last Time Out: Vanderbilt walked off Lipscomb on a tenth-inning RBI single by Colin Barczi to win 5-4 on Tuesday night.
- It was Vandy’s second walk-off win in as many weeks as the Dores knocked off WKU in 10 innings on April 1.
- Braden Holcomb launched a two-run home run in the bottom the fourth on Tuesday. Holcomb has now homered in consecutive games after leaving the park at Oklahoma on Sunday.
- Last weekend, Vanderbilt won one of three games at Oklahoma, dropping the series to the Sooners but avoiding a sweep with a dominant 13-2 win in eight innings in the Sunday finale.
- Over Vandy’s last 10 games, Jonathan Vastine is 16-for-36 (.444) with a home run, three doubles, five RBI and eight runs scored.
- Over that same span, Riley Nelson is 12-for-32 (.375) with two homers, six RBI, a double and six runs scored. Colin Barczi is 8-for-21 (.381) with two home runs and seven RBI.
On the Mound and Behind It: Vanderbilt’s pitching staff boasts a 3.69 ERA, 11th best in D1.
- Vandy’s pitchers have reached double-digit strikeouts in 26 of 37 games this season.
- Vanderbilt ranks third nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (6.94) and is fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (11.9).
- The Dores’ five shutouts are most in the SEC.
- Defensively, Vandy owns the sixth best fielding percentage in DI (.982), second in the SEC.
RJ Doing RJ Things: Junior RJ Austin is tied with teammate Jacob Humphrey for most stolen bases (16) among SEC players.
- Austin enters the weekend with four triples, tied for most in the SEC.
- He walked off WKU on April 1 with an RBI single in the 10th inning.
- Austin hit the go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh inning to help lift Vanderbilt past Texas A&M on March 22.
- He hit two triples in the win over Saint Mary’s on Feb. 21, the first Commodore since Tony Kemp in 2012 to do so.
- Austin’s 13 multi-hit games this season is second on the team. His nine multi-RBI performances is tied for the team lead.
Big Innings: Vandy has scored four or more runs in an inning 18 times this season.
- The Dores have scored seven or more runs in an inning five times including a nine-spot twice.
