#7 Vanderbilt Commodores (23-6, 6-3 SEC) at #18 LSU Tigers (20-10, 2-7 SEC)
Game 1: Thursday, April 4 @ 6 p.m. CT • ESPN2
Game 2: Friday, April 5 @ 7 p.m. CT • SEC Network
Game 3: Saturday, April 6 @ 2 p.m. CT • SECN+
Baton Rouge, La. • Alex Box Stadium
Series Preview: Vanderbilt travels to Louisiana to face LSU for a three-game series beginning Thursday at Alex Box Stadium.
- Vanderbilt has won its last four games including a sweep over Missouri at Hawkins Field last weekend.
- The Commodores sit at 6-3 in SEC play through the first three series. All three series have been sweeps with Vandy taking all three games against Auburn and Missouri and dropping the series at South Carolina.
- Vanderbilt won the first meeting vs. LSU in 1954 and trail the Tigers in the all-time series, 46-61. The Dores’ last visit to Baton Rouge ended with a three-game sweep over the Tigers in 2021.
- In regular season meetings under head coach Tim Corbin (since 2003), Vanderbilt leads the series 24-15 including an 11-7 record in Baton Rouge.
- Thursday’s game will air on ESPN2 followed by Friday’s game on SEC Network and Saturday’s series finale on SECN+.
Last Time Out: Vanderbilt completed its second SEC sweep on the season, taking all three games vs. Missouri in Nashville.
- Vanderbilt’s pitching was lights out, totaling a 0.33 ERA over the three games, allowing one earned run on 10 hits with 36 strikeouts.
- In Game 1 on Thursday, Greysen Carter tallied 11 strikeouts over 8.1 innings and didn’t allow an earned run.
- Bryce Cunningham followed with 7.0 shutout innings in Game 2 on Friday. Cunningham was named SEC Pitcher of the Week after striking out a career-high 12 batters and allowing just one hit.
- Carter Holton allowed one run over 7.0 innings in the finale, striking out eight.
Stat Spotlight: Vanderbilt ranks top-10 nationally in ERA (6th, 3.61), hits allowed per nine innings (5th, 7.02) and WHIP (6th, 1.19).
- Jonathan Vastine’s 11 doubles rank fourth in the SEC and 48th in DI. As a team, Vandy has 66 doubles entering the weekend, second most in the SEC and 19th in DI.
- Bryce Cunningham has the 9th lowest ERA (2.87) in the SEC. His 57 strikeouts are third-most in the conference and 12th in DI and his 5.97 hits allowed per nine innings is sixth in the SEC. Carter Holton also has 57 strikeouts on the season, making Vanderbilt the only school with multiple pitchers in the top-15 in strikeouts.
- RJ Austin ranks second in the SEC with 16 stolen bases. Calvin Hewett is fourth with 15 steals. The Dores has 59 stolen bases as a team, good for second in the SEC and 19th in DI.
Scoring Early: Vanderbilt has scored 61 runs in the first two innings this season.
- Vandy is outscoring its opponents 31-15 in first innings and 30-8 in second innings.
- The Dores are 10-1 when they score in the first frame and 16-2 when scoring first.
1,000-Win Club: Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin reached 1,000 career wins on March 5 vs. Eastern Michigan.
- Corbin recorded his 900th win at Vanderbilt on March 16 vs. Auburn.
- Among active coaches, Corbin ranks 10th by most wins. He is second in the SEC behind Arkansas’ Dave Van Horn (1,234).
Weekly Awards: Four Commodores have earned weekly awards from the SEC this season.
- April 1: Bryce Cunningham (Pitcher of the Week) tossed 7.0 shutout innings vs. Missouri, allowing just one hit with a career-high 12 strikeouts.
- March 18: Alan Espinal (Player of the Week) had eight hits over the weekend to help the Commodores sweep No. 18 Auburn. His eight hits tied for the most in the SEC. For the week, Espinal had 10 hits and walked five times for an OBP of .714.
- March 11: Devin Futrell (Pitcher of the Week) recorded the first complete-game shutout by an SEC pitcher this season. Futrell carried a no-hit bid to the final out of the fifth inning and struck out seven batters. The southpaw did not allow a walk.
- March 4: Camden Kozeal (Freshman of the Week) led all DI hitters with 14 hits, helping the Commodores to a 5-0 week.
