| 5/11/2006
Vanderbilt hits the road for the final time in the regular season as the Commodores take on LSU this weekend in a three-game SEC series. The teams will open the set on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and will continue on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 1 p.m. LSU is 32-17 overall and 11-13 in SEC play after sweeping Auburn on the road last weekend. The Tigers have won their last two conference series and three of their last four. They enter the weekend having won four straight and six of seven overall. Vanderbilt is down to its last seven games of the regular season and is in the middle of a crowded SEC tournament picture. All 12 SEC teams are still alive for the eight-team tournament going into the weekend. If the season ended today, the Commodores would be the seventh seed and would take on the No. 2 seed Alabama in the first round on Wednesday. This weekend’s opponent, LSU, is just a half game behind Mississippi State for eighth and a game back of Vandy. The tournament picture should clear up a little after the weekend with various scenarios whittled down going into next weekend’s series against South Carolina. The Commodores dropped the season series to Tennessee last weekend, 2-1, marking the first time that has happened under Tim Corbin and the first time since 2002. David Macias carried a 17-game hit streak into the Tennessee series, but saw it end after going 0-3 in Friday night’s loss to the Vols. VU hit .238 in the three games against UT, while also sporting a 6.12 ERA. Ty Davis pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless relief in the Commodores come from behind win in the Saturday doubleheader nightcap. He stabilized the game after a UT three-run homer of off starter Cody Crowell made the score 4-1. Senior righthander Matt Buschmann was the tough luck loser in the first game of the doubleheader after errors led to four unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth in UT’s 5-3 win. He allowed just one run through the first seven innings and wound up giving up seven hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Buschmann is expected to start on the mound Friday, with David Price taking the mound Saturday, followed by Ty Davis on Sunday. After this weekend the Commodores will play their final four regular season games at home, starting with a Tuesday matchup against Middle Tennessee at 6 p.m. at Hawkins Field. Vandy will then host South Carolina in the SEC finale next weekend. The Gamecocks are one game ahead of the Dores in the league at 13-11 and take on Tennessee this weekend in Columbia. All three games can be heard in Nashville on WNSR 560 AM. Joe Fisher will call all of the action. Teamline will have the broadcast via telephone and internet. The phone number to dial is 1-800-846-4700. Passcode: 0668 Check for more info. |
