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 on March 23.
- Holton has registered five quality starts in his last six appearances. He has 10 or more strikeouts in four of his last seven starts and has eight or more strikeouts in seven of nine starts this season.
- Among active SEC pitchers that have pitched their entire careers in the SEC, Holton ranks fourth in career wins (18), second in strikeouts (234) and fourth in innings pitched (185.1).
Top Relievers: Junior Ryan Ginther and freshman Brennan Seiber were named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year midseason watch list on April 24.
- Ginther (2.41 ERA) and Seiber (2.81 ERA) have four saves each this season. Vandy is one of only two SEC schools with multiple players on the watch list.
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 (40) and is second in hits (49) and runs scored (35).
- The sophomore from Atlanta was named SEC Tournament MVP last season and has a team-high 14 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI games this season.
