April 26, 2018
Games 41-43
Friday, April 27 – Sunday, April 29 – Nashville – Hawkins Field
South Carolina (24-17, 9-9 SEC) vs. No. 17 Vanderbilt (24-16, 10-8 SEC)
VU Game Notes – USC Game Notes – Purchase Tickets
NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt looks to continue its steady play at home when the squad opens a three-game series against South Carolina on Friday evening at Hawkins Field with a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch.
Saturday’s middle game is set for 2 p.m. and Sunday’s finale will get underway at 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on SEC Network Plus with Kevin Ingram and Andrew Harris on the call.
Fans can also listen to all three games courtesy of the vucommodores app as well as locally on WNSR 560 AM/95.9 FM with Joe Fisher on the call. Pre-game coverage begins 15 minutes prior to first pitch.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
– FRIDAY: RHP Drake Fellows (4-3, 3.03 ERA) vs. RHP Logan Chapman (3-0, 3.29 ERA)
– SATURDAY: RHP Patrick Raby (2-4, 2.47 ERA) vs. RHP Adam Hill (4-4, 4.05 ERA)
– SUNDAY: RHP Mason Hickman (7-1, 3.69 ERA) vs. RHP Cody Morris (6-3, 4.18 ERA)
NEED TO KNOW
Vanderbilt enters its seventh weekend of SEC play trailing only Florida in league victories. The Commodores, who are 10-8 in conference play, are joined by Arkansas, Georgia and Ole Miss with identical marks.
Commodore pitching was masterful a weekend ago at Missouri. The staff limited the Tigers to a .163 average and just two extra-base hits in 25 innings. Vandy starting pitching led the charge, permitting just one earned run in 21 innings.
Austin Martin extended his hit streak to 13 games in the finale at Mizzou. The streak is the longest for a VU player since Ro Coleman‘s stretch of as many in 2015 and the longest for a Dore freshman since Xavier Turner (15) in 2013.
Vandy enters the weekend having won five-straight SEC three-game home series and 10 of the last 11 home league sets. The Commodores have won all three SEC series at Hawkins Field this season, defeating LSU, Georgia and Ole Miss.
For the first time since the start of the season, Vanderbilt did not play a midweek game. The rest came at the perfect time for a team that played its fifth game in seven days last Saturday at Missouri.
Vandy has stolen 74 bases this season, tied for eighth nationally and first in the SEC. The total is already 20 more than the squad finished with a season ago (54). Four Commodores have registered double-digit stolen bases and 14 different players have swiped at least one bag this season.
PROMOTIONS
– FRIDAY: Free Vanderbilt baseball seat cushions presented by Coca-Cola
– SATURDAY: ‘Youth Day’ gets underway at 12 p.m. along Jess Neely Drive, offering a kids zone featuring live music, inflatables, face painting, balloon animals, a prize wheel, food trucks and more. The first 500 kids wearing their youth baseball jersey inside the park receive a free youth Vanderbilt baseball hat. Kids can also play catch in the outfield post-game (weather permitting).
– SUNDAY: Kids run bases following the game (weather permitting).
INSIDE THE SERIES VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
Vanderbilt and South Carolina meet for the 89th time in the history of the two programs on Friday.
USC owns a 56-32 advantage all-time, although the series is deadlock at 27-27 in the Tim Corbin era (2003-present). The series is split 5-5 in the last 10 games with four of those going to extra innings or being decided by one run.
The Dores have won two-straight series but fell 7-4 to the Gamecocks in 11 innings at the 2017 SEC Tournament in the last meeting. Vandy walked 10 batters and allowed three home runs in the defeat.
This season marks the 25th consecutive season the two teams have squared off (1994-present).