Vanderbilt Commodores (34-18, 12-15 SEC) at #2 Kentucky Wildcats (37-11, 20-7 SEC)
Game 1: Thursday, May 16 @ 5:30 p.m. CT • SECN+
Game 2: Friday, May 17 @ 5:30. CT • SECN+
Game 3: Saturday, May 18 @ 11 a.m. CT • SEC Network
Lexington, Ky. • Kentucky Proud Park
Series Preview: Vanderbilt visits Kentucky for the finale series of the regular season.
- Vanderbilt and Kentucky will be meeting for the 311th time since 1905 on Thursday. The Dores lead the all-time series 155-150-5.
- Vanderbilt has won each of the last five series over the Wildcats including a sweep last season in Nashville.
- This week’s series has seeding implications for next week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. Vandy is currently tied with Alabama for the No. 8 seed. The Wildcats are one game up on Tennessee for the top spot in the East.
- Both teams like to run the bases. Kentucky leads the SEC with 99 stolen bases on 125 attempts while Vanderbilt is second with 84 steals on 97 attempts.
- On the season, Kentucky is hitting .290 with a 4.85 staff ERA. Vandy is hitting .284 with a 4.82 ERA.
Last Time Out: Vanderbilt won the series finale over No. 1 Tennessee on Sunday with a combined shutout by JD Thompson and Devin Futrell.
- JD Thompson was named the SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week after throwing 6.0 shutout innings vs. Tennessee, holding the Vols to two hits while totaling nine strikeouts.
- Devin Futrell held Tennessee scoreless over the final three innings to hand the top-ranked Volunteers their first shutout this season.
- Alan Espinal hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his team-leading 10th on the season.
- Vandy’s starting pitchers registered a 2.04 ERA over 17.2 innings in the series vs. Tennessee with 26 strikeouts.
Golden Spikes Award: RJ Austin was one of 45 players named to the 2024 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.
- Austin leads Vanderbilt in RBI (49), hits (64), runs scored (43) and stolen bases (23).
- The sophomore from Atlanta was named SEC Tournament MVP last season and has a team-high 20 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games this season.
- Austin has the most RBI (49) among SEC players with 20+ stolen bases.
- Austin was named to the 2024 SEC Community Service Team on Wednesday.
Johnny V: Vanderbilt shortstop Jonathan Vastine was recently named the No. 18 shortstop by D1Baseball.com.
- Vastine leads the team in doubles (16) and, after leading Vandy with 18 doubles in 2023, is looking to become the first Commodore since Dansby Swanson to lead the…