March 3, 2009
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. â€â€ÂVanderbilt baseball will look to continue its winning ways against Lipscomb on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores (5-3) have won four straight games, all at home, including a three-game sweep over Vermont over the weekend. They are in the midst of a nine-game home stand and a stretch of 13 of 14 games at Hawkins Field.
Offensively, Vanderbilt is third in the Southeastern Conference with a .337 batting average and fifth in pitching with a 3.68 team ERA. Redshirt freshman Aaron Westlake is third in the SEC with a .577 batting average and is tied for first in hits with 15. Sophomore pitcher Caleb Cotham, who leads the SEC in innings pitched (15.0), has a younger brother, Josh, who is a freshman pitcher at Lipscomb.
Lipscomb is 3-4 on the year after sweeping Bradley at home over the weekend. The Bison opened the season with a three-game series at No. 12 Georgia Tech and a midweek game at Auburn and lost all four contests.
Lipscomb is coming off its best season in Division I, having made the NCAA tournament with a 33-30 record in 2008. They beat Georgia (eventual College World Series runner-up) in the opening game of the Athens Regional, 10-7, before losing to Georgia Tech and the Bulldogs in an elimination game.
They have five starters returning from that team led by senior first baseman/designated hitter Justin Sanders who is batting .577 with six doubles, two triples, a homer and seven RBI in seven games. As a team the Bison are batting .245 with three homers and 30 runs scored (4.3 per game). The pitching staff has a 6.83 team ERA with 60 strikeouts and 47 walks in 56.2 innings pitched. LU will start senior right-hander Charles Williams on Tuesday. He is 0-1 with a 19.64 ERA in two games, including one start.
Sophomore right-hander Taylor Hill (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will start for the Commodores on Tuesday. Hill made two relief appearances in California opening weekend. He was 5-2 with a 4.60 ERA a year ago in 16 appearances, including eight starts. One of those starts came at Lipscomb, where he held the Bison to one run on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks in five innings of work. He picked up the win as VU claimed an 8-1 decision to sweep the season series.
The Commodores hold a 42-10 all-time series lead over Lipscomb in a series that dates back to 1936. Vanderbilt has won four of the last six meetings including the last two games at Hawkins Field.
Single game tickets as well as season tickets are available through www.vucommodores.com and the Vanderbilt Athletic Ticket Office at (615) 322-GOLD.