Vanderbilt Commodores (27-10, 8-7 SEC) vs. Florida Gators (19-17, 7-8 SEC)
Game 1: Thursday, April 18 @ 6:30 p.m. CT • ESPNU
Game 2: Friday, April 19 @ 6 p.m. CT • ESPN2
Game 3: Saturday, April 20 @ 2 p.m. CT • SECN+
Nashville, Tenn. • Hawkins Field
Series Preview: Vanderbilt returns home for a three-game series against Florida at Hawkins Field.
- Vanderbilt is coming off four consecutive road games and sits at 8-7 in SEC play while Florida is 7-8. The teams are fourth and fifth in the SEC East standings, respectively.
- The Commodores enter the series ranked No. 13 by D1Baseball. Florida is unranked after being No. 24 in last week’s poll.
- Florida leads the all-time series 147-81-1 since the first meeting in 1927. The Commodores won the most recent meeting at the SEC Tournament last season. Vandy’s 11-6 win sent the Dores to the championship game in which they defeated Texas A&M to win the tournament title.
- The last time the two sides met at Hawkins Field in 2022, Vandy won two of three games. The three games in 2022 were decided by a total of four runs.
Last Time Out: Vanderbilt run-ruled Lipscomb, 15-4, in seven innings at Ken Dugan Field.
- Four different Commodores posted a multi-hit night led by Jayden Davis and Matthew Polk with three hits each.
- Davis drove in three runs along with Logan Poteet, who hit a three-run homer. Davis also scored three times to pace the offense.
- On the mound, Brennan Seiber struck out five over 3.0 innings and didn’t allow an earned run.
Just Means More: In SEC action, Vanderbilt ranks fifth in batting (.268) and fourth in ERA (5.23).
- Carter Holton ranks second in strikeouts (41), 12th in ERA (3.64) and 10th in opposing batting average (.211).
- In six SEC home games, the Commodores are hitting .333 as a team with a 1.53 ERA. Alan Espinal leads the team in those games with a .478 average. RJ Austin and Davis Diaz have driven in eight runs each.
Scoring Early: Vanderbilt has scored 83 runs in the first two innings this season, averaging more than two runs per game in the opening frames.
- Vandy is outscoring its opponents 43-26 in first innings and 40-12 in second innings.
- The Dores are 13-1 when they score in the first frame and 19-3 when scoring first.
200 K’s for #20: Junior Carter Holton recorded his 200th career strikeout at South Carolina on March 23.
- Holton has registered four quality starts in his last five appearances. He has 10 or more strikeouts in three of his last six starts and has eight or more strikeouts in six of eight starts this season.
- Among active SEC pitchers that have pitched their entire careers in the SEC, Holton ranks fourth in career wins (17), second in strikeouts (224) and fourth in innings pitched (178.1).
Golden Spikes Award: RJ Austin was one of 45 players named to the 2024 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.
- Austin leads Vanderbilt in runs (32), hits (45), RBI (35), stolen bases (18) and is second in average (.317).
- The sophomore from Atlanta was named SEC Tournament MVP last season and has 13 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games this season.
Welcome to the Show: With the call-ups of Austin Martin (Twins) and Jack Leiter (Rangers) this season, Vanderbilt leads all schools with 13 players on MLB rosters, including the IL.
- Austin Martin made his debut with the Minnesota Twins on March 30. He has eight hits through his first 13 games with three doubles and three RBI.
- Jack Leiter is scheduled to make his MLB debut for the Texas Rangers on April 18. With Leiter’s debut, 33 former Commodores will have made it to the MLB since Tim Corbin’s first season at Vandy in 2003.
1,000-Win Club: Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin reached 1,000 career wins on March 5 vs. Eastern Michigan.
- Corbin recorded his 900th Vandy win 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 (1,241).
