Vanderbilt Commodores (30-11, 10-8 SEC) vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (27-14, 10-8 SEC)
Game 1: Friday, April 26 @ 6 p.m. CT • SECN+
Game 2: Saturday, April 27 @ 2 p.m. CT • SECN+
Game 3: Sunday, April 28 @ 1 p.m. CT • SECN+
Nashville, Tenn. • Hawkins Field
Series Preview: An eight-game homestand for Vanderbilt continues this weekend as Mississippi State comes to town for three games at Hawkins Field.
- Vanderbilt and Mississippi State are both 10-8 in SEC play. The Commodores have won all three home series this season while the Bulldogs have dropped all three road series.
- Mississippi State leads the all-time series 74-57-2. The Commodores are 8-1 vs. the Bulldogs in the last nine regular-season meetings including a sweep in Starkville last season.
Last Time Out: Vanderbilt beat UT Martin, 5-4, Tuesday night with a walk-off home run by Davis Diaz in the ninth inning.
- Vanderbilt beat UT Martin, 5-4, Tuesday night using a walk-off home run by Davis Diaz in the ninth inning. Sam Hliboki registered eight consecutive strikeouts over 4.0 innings in relief.
- Last weekend the Dores won the series against Florida at Hawkins Field. Vandy took the first two games behind strong starting pitching by Bryce Cunningham and Carter Holton.
- Cunningham improved to 5-2 with 6.0 innings of work in Thursday’s game. The righty held Florida to three runs on five hits and totaled seven strikeouts.
- Holton struck out 10 Gators over 7.0 innings Friday en route to his sixth win on the season. Holton didn’t issue a walk and held Florida to two runs on four hits.
Just Means More: In SEC action, Vanderbilt is hitting .273 (7th) with a 5.07 ERA (5th).
- Carter Holton ranks first among SEC pitchers in innings pitched (36.2), second in strikeouts (51), fourth in opposing batting average (.201) and is tied for second in wins (4).
- Bryce Cunningham ranks fourth in strikeouts with 41 and 15th in opposing batting average (.235).
- Jayden Davis leads all Vandy hitters with a .357 average in SEC games. Davis and RJ Austin are tied for the most RBI with 17 each.
Scoring Early: Vanderbilt has scored 86 runs in the first two innings this season, averaging more than two runs per game in the opening frames.
- Vandy is outscoring its opponents 45-28 in first innings and 41-12 in second innings.
- The Dores are 14-1 when they score in the first frame and 20-4 when scoring first.
200 K’s for #20: Junior Carter Holton recorded his 200th career strikeout at South Carolina…