May 21, 2018
2018 SEC Tournament
Tuesday, May 22 – Hoover, Ala. – Hoover Met. Stadium
Texas A&M (36-19, 13-17 SEC) vs. No. 25 Vanderbilt (31-24, 16-14 SEC)
VU Game Notes – Texas A&M Game Notes – Tournament Bracket
HOOVER, Ala. – Six-seed Vanderbilt gets the 2018 SEC Tournament underway on Tuesday, facing No. 11-seed Texas A&M in the single-elimination opener with first pitch scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on the SEC Network.
Fans can listen to the game through the vucommodores app as well as locally on WNSR 560 AM/95.9 FM with Joe Fisher on the call.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
– RHP Tyler Brown (1-3, 6.07 ERA) vs. LHP Kaylor Chafin (4-0, 3.47 ERA)
NEED TO KNOW
Vanderbilt is making its 13th-consecutive appearance in the SEC Tournament next week. The Commodores, who have finished runner-up in four of the last seven years, claimed their last tournament title in 2007.
Vandy enters Tuesday having won four-consecutive games and six of the last seven dating to May 11 at Tennessee. In their last seven games, the Commodores are batting .308 and averaging 9.14 runs per game alongside a .992 fielding percentage and 3.92 ERA. Stephen Scott has belted six homers in the last seven outings.
Vandy played error-free baseball for the 31st time overall and for the fourth time in five games on Saturday against Kentucky. The Dores’ .983 fielding percentage ranks third nationally and first in the SEC. The program record for fielding is .979, set in 2015. Vandy fielded .976 a season ago.
With a three-game sweep against No. 19 Kentucky, Vanderbilt owns 16 wins against Top 25 opponents. Vandy has defeated Duke (2x), Houston, UCLA, TCU, Mississippi State (3x), LSU (2x), Georgia (2x), Ole Miss (2x) and Kentucky (3x).
Vanderbilt and Wake Forest are the only teams in the country to start six true freshmen in a game this year. The Dores did so on May 6 at Auburn. Vandy true freshmen have made 216 combined starts, which is third nationally behind only Wake Forest and Arizona State. Tyler Brown‘s start on Tuesday will be the 22nd for a VU true freshman pitcher, which ranks tied for third nationally behind UNC-Wilmington and Alabama State.
Vanderbilt’s Connor Kaiser continues to make his case for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. The junior is one of two shortstops nationally (Houston Baptist’s Tyler Depreta-Johnson) with just one error in 200-plus chances. Kaiser enters Tuesday boasting a .995 fielding percentage and has one error in 202 chances.
The Dores rank 15th nationally and first in the SEC with 94 stolen bases. Vandy has finished first or second in the league four times over the last six years in stolen bases. The Commodores have swiped 40 more bases than a year ago (54).
INSIDE THE MATCHUP VS. TEXAS A&M
Vanderbilt and Texas A&M meet for the 16th time — with each matchup coming since 2013 — on Tuesday morning.
Tuesday’s matchup marks the fourth time in six years (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018) that Vandy and A&M have met in the SEC Tournament. The teams have splitted the six prior games at the event. The Commodores are 35-22 at the SEC Tournament in the Tim Corbin era (2003-present). This season marks the 23rd appearance overall for VU in the SEC Tournament. The Black and Gold own two tournament titles (1980, 2007).