March 9, 2009
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt baseball, winners of eight of its last nine games, will take on Lipscomb in the second game of the home and home series Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Ken Dugan Field.
The Commodores (9-4) completed a nine-game home stand (8-1) by taking three of four games from UIC over the weekend. VU defeated Lipscomb 10-3 last Tuesday at Hawkins Field.
Offensively, Vanderbilt is fourth in the Southeastern Conference with a .326 batting average and fourth in pitching with a 3.34 team ERA. Redshirt freshman Aaron Westlake is second in the SEC with a .511 batting average and leads the conference in hits with 24. Sophomore pitcher Caleb Cotham, who leads the SEC in innings pitched (21.0), has a younger brother, Josh, who is a freshman pitcher at Lipscomb.
Lipscomb is 5-6 on the year after taking two of three at Mercer to start Atlantic Sun Conference play over the weekend. The Bison 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.
Senior first baseman/designated hitter Justin Sanders is one of five starters returning from a year ago and he leads the team in batting with a .474 batting average along with a homer, six doubles, two triples and nine RBI. As a team the Bison are batting .225 with five homers and 48 runs scored (4.4 per game). The pitching staff has a 5.74 team ERA with 90 strikeouts and 60 walks in 91.0 innings pitched. Junior right-hander Jerry Young will get the start on Tuesday. He is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA on the year with eight strikeouts and five walks in five innings of action on the year. This will be his first start after four relief appearances, including an inning of scoreless relief last Tuesday against the Commodores.
Freshman left-hander Grayson Garvin (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his first collegiate start on Tuesday in just his second appearance of the year. He made his Vanderbilt debut with an inning of one-hit scoreless relief against Vermont on Feb. 28. Garvin struck out two batters in pitching the ninth of a 14-1 VU win.
The Commodores hold a 43-10 all-time series lead over Lipscomb in a series that dates back to 1936. Vanderbilt has won five of the last seven meetings against the Bison including the last three.
After the game against Lipscomb, Vanderbilt will return home for a five-game home stand starting with a three-game set against No. 14 Ole Miss in the Southeastern Conference opening weekend. The series begins on Friday at 6 p.m. and will continue on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Single game and season tickets are available through the Vanderbilt Ticket Office at (615) 322-GOLD or on-line at www.vucommodores.com.