Vanderbilt Commodores (17-20, 4-11) vs. #14 Arkansas Razorbacks (27-12, 12-3)
McGugin Field (1,000)/Greer Stadium (11,500) - Nashville, Tenn.

Game #1 (38) - Friday, April 16, 7 p.m. CT
Game #2 (39) - Saturday, April 17, 7 p.m. CT (Greer Stadium)
Game #3 (40) - Sunday, April 18, 1 p.m. CT

BASEBALL HOMEPAGE

Setting the Scene

The Vanderbilt baseball team (17-20, 4-11) enters this weekend's series with a one-game winning streak. Vanderbilt's 5-3 win on Wednesday over MTSU snapped a three-game losing streak. VU lost on Tuesday to Memphis, 6-4, after giving up three runs in the top of the ninth. In SEC play last weekend, the Commodores picked up the first game against LSU, 11-2, but lost the next two games, 10-2 and 9-2, respectively.

The Series
Arkansas leads the all-time seres with Vanderbilt, 11-5. The two teams will meet each other for only the 17th time in Friday's meeting. In the last series in 1998, Vanderbilt managed to pick up the last game of the series, 9-4, but lost the first two games to the Razorbacks, 5-3 and 10-4. Damon Yee allowed no runs in his six innings of relief to get VU's win on Sunday. Matt Kata led Vanderbilt at the plate going 3-for-4 in the 9-4 win. The first meeting between the two teams was in 1970 when VU won the game, 9-6, in Nashville. Vanderbilt has never swept the Razorbacks. The only time Arkansas has swept the Commodores was in Nashville, April 1-3, 1994. In games played in Nashville, Vanderbilt is 2-5 against Arkansas.

The Coaches
Vanderbilt‹Roy Mewbourne is in his 20th season at Vanderbilt (581-504-9) and his 26th season overall as a head coach (848-579-9). Mewbourne is 4-11 against Arkansas.
Arkansas‹Coach Norm DeBriyn is in his 30th season at the helm of Arkansas baseball. He owns a 1,060-554-6 record at Arkansas and owns the same overall record.

Scouting the Razorbacks
The Arkansas Razorbacks enter this weekend's series with an 27-12 overall record and a 12-3 conference record. The Razorbacks are currently the top team in the SEC. Arkansas has swept its last three conference opponents, including Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky last weekend. UA downed Kentucky, 15-2, 10-1, and 9-5, respectively. This past Wednesday, the Hogs picked up a 14-6 win over Oral Roberts. The Hogs are 8-2 in their last 10 games, 8-6 on the road and are on a four-game win streak.

Rodney Nye is Arkansas' offensive leader with a .400 batting average, 15 doubles and 16 home runs. Joe Jester follows with a .351 average. Charlie Isaacson is the Hogs' top hurler with a 2.50 ERA in 54 innings pitched. He allowed just two hits in eight innings and struck out 10 in Arkansas' 10-1 win over Kentucky. Isaacson currently owns a 17.1 scoreless innings streak. RHP David Walling is the staffs strikeout leader with 87 on the year.

Radio/TV
Sunday's game will be broadcast on WAMB-AM 1160 and begin 10 minutes before the first pitch. Chip Fridrich will call the action with color from Dede Malmo.

Probable Pitching Rotation

Vanderbilt Commodores
Friday     34   Andy Beal (So., LHP)         '99 Stats (3.88 ERA, 3-1, 46.1 IP, 20 ER, 46 K)
Saturday   21   Mark Prior (Fr., RHP)        '99 Stats (4.59 ERA, 4-5, 64.2 IP, 33 ER, 55 K)
Sunday     36   Mike Byrd (Jr., RHP)         '99 Stats (3.52 ERA, 2-5, 69.0 IP, 27 ER, 67 K)
Arkansas Razorbacks
Friday     31   David Walling (Jr., RHP)     '99 Stats (3.63 ERA, 6-1, 67.0 IP, 27 ER, 87 K)
Saturday   45   Charlie Isaacson (Fr., RHP)  '99 Stats (2.50 ERA, 5-0, 54.0 IP, 15 ER, 57 K)
Sunday     17   Wes McCrotty (So., LHP)      '99 Stats (4.84 ERA, 2-0, 44.2 IP, 24 ER, 45 K)	

Last Action: VU Downs MTSU, 5-3
Matt Kata went 3-for-4 with three doubles and freshman right-hander Jeff Little picked up his first win of the season as Vanderbilt took the first game of a home-and-home series, 5-3, at Middle Tennessee State on Wednesday night.

MTSU struck first, plating a run in the bottom of the second, but the lead was short-lived as the Commodores roared back to score three in the top of the fourth. VU added a run in the top of the fifth to push the lead to three, but MTSU scored one run in both the fifth and sixth to get within one. Karl Nonemaker hit his first career home run in the Vanderbilt ninth to give the Commodores a two-run win.

Last SEC Action: VU Takes One From LSU
Vanderbilt took advantage of six LSU errors in the first three innings to coast to an 11-2 win at Alex Box Stadium on Friday night. The Commodores snapped a six-game losing streak in Baton Rouge, winning for the first time at LSU since an 11-6 triumph on May 5, 1991. Freshman Karl Nonemaker had a career-high five hits (5-for-6) and three RBI to lead the Commodores offensively. Andy Beal pitched six innings to get his third win of the season, giving up only two earned runs off of eight hits.

LSU roared back to defeat the Commodores in the final two games of the series, 10-2 and 9-2 respectively. Two-out runs were costly for Vanderbilt. Fifteen of LSU's 21 runs in the series were scored when Vanderbilt had two outs.

Team Comparisons
Both Vanderbilt and Arkansas have comparable pitching when it comes to SEC stats. In all games, Vanderbilt is fifth in the conference with a 4.73 ERA, while Arkansas ranks sixth (4.84). Arkansas has two pitchers that are ranked in the top 10 in ERA, Charlie Isaacson (3rd - 2.50) and David Walling (10th - 3.63), while VU's Mike Byrd is ninth in the SEC with a 3.52 ERA. The Hogs do have the advantage in SEC games with a 5.66 ERA compared to the Commodores' 6.00 mark.

In both hitting and fielding, Arkansas has the edge in this weekend's series. The Razorbacks are ranked in the top six in both categories, while Vanderbilt is in the bottom six. VU does have two batters ranked in the top 10 for hitting. Hunter Bledsoe leads the conference, while Karl Nonemaker is ninth.

Recent VU/ARK Scores
1998 - ARK, 5-3  (in Fayetteville)
       ARK, 10-4
       VU, 9-4
1997 - ARK, 13-4  (in Nashville)
       VU,  13-10
       ARK, 18-5
1996 - VU,  5-2  (in Fayettville)
       ARK, 6-3
       ARK, 16-11

National Powerhouse
Hunter Bledsoe is one of the best hitters in the nation this week. The senior has led the SEC much of the season in batting average and is ranked first in the conference and fifth in the nation. He is currently hitting an amazing .446 and is on pace to become VU's all-time batting average leader. Bledsoe finished his junior year with a .389 average to lead the Commodores in that category.

Bledsoe was ranked 20th in the nation in stolen bases last week. He has stolen 25 this season and has only been thrown out twice.

A Change of Scenery: Greer Stadium
Saturday's game with Arkansas will be the first of two games the Commodores will play at Greer Stadium. VU will also meet Florida at the triple-A park on May 1. Here's the history on Greer Stadium...Home to Pittsburgh's triple-A team the Nashville Sounds:

Greer Stadium was built in 1978 on land leased from the city in exchange for the Nashville Sounds bank rolling the original 6,500-seat facility. The stadium has since been expanded by 5,000 seats. Greer Stadium is one of only the few stadiums in the country that is privately owned, and absolutely the only stadium in the country with a guitar-shaped scoreboard. A Cliff Claven for you trivial types: the scoreboard is 100 feet long, 50 feet high and has 2,000 lights.

LSU Accomplishments
In one of the hardest stadiums to play in, LSU's Alex Box Stadium, Vanderbilt was able to pick up an 11-2 win against the Tigers last Friday. The win broke a six-game losing streak for VU in Baton Rouge, as it was the first win there since May 5, 1991 when the Commodores won 11-6. Vanderbilt's 11 runs tied the most runs the Commodores have scored against the Tigers. The win was also the largest for the Commodores ever over the Tigers. The previous margin was a 9-2 victory in 1989.

Hitting Barrage
Vanderbilt has improved its hitting performance in the last six games. The Commodores are hitting .357 in their last eight games and have totaled at least 12 hits in six of the eight games. VU had a season-high 19 hits against Evansville on April 7 and then went on to pound out 17 against LSU in game one and 12 in game two of the series. Freshman Aaron Fausett is on fire with a .543 batting average.

Safe As Can Be In the SEC
Freshman Aaron Fausett leads the Commodores with a .370 batting average in the SEC. The outfielder has reached base safely in every SEC game so far this year. He has had at least one hit in all but one game and in that game he reached first base with a walk. His best outing was a 4-for-5 performance against Ole Miss.

Karl Nonemaker is the only other Commodore to come close to this feat. He has reached base safely in all but one game (S. Carolina on 3/27). Nonemaker has walked in two of those games and gotten a hit in the other 12 games.

Empty Bases
The base pads have not been full when it Vanderbilt has hit its home runs this season. Unfortunately, 21 of Vanderbilt's 32 home runs have been solo shots. Four have been hit with two runners on base and the Commodores have totaled only one grand slam in 1999 (by Andy Kropf).

Starter Summary
Vanderbilt three starting pitchers this weekend all have below a 4.60 ERA and have a combined 9-11 record. Mike Byrd leads the staff and is VU's No. 1 hurler with a 3.52 ERA in 69 innings pitched. He has totaled 67 K's and is averaging almost one per inning and five six in every start. Andy Beal follows with a 3.88 ERA. He will make his third conference start this weekend, while he has served as a key reliever in the Auburn, S. Carolina and Ole Miss series. Mark Prior has the fourth best ERA on the team at 4.59. The freshman follows only Mike Byrd in innings pitched (64.2) and strikeouts (55).

Two-Out Troubles
The Commodores have been giving up runs with two outs lately. In the last two SEC series (Ole Miss and LSU), 32 of 49 of the opponents runs were scored when Vanderbilt had two outs. VU gave up 15 of 21 runs to LSU and 17 of 28 to Ole Miss with two outs. Against Memphis earlier this week, Vanderbilt gave up four in the same situation.

Home Run Figures
Vanderbilt now has 32 total home runs this season. Leading the way is Hunter Bledsoe with nine. Aaron Fausett follows with seven. He hit two in one game against Ole Miss and is the only Commodore to do so this season. Five freshman have hit their first career home runs this season (Karl Nonemaker, Fausett, Vanderhoff, Prior and McCullough).

Hitting Streak Summary
Several Commodores have had at least a 10-game hit streak this season. Aaron Fausett has the longest for a Commodores this season at 16 games. Senior Hunter Bledsoe follows with 15 games. Andy Kropf and Kevin Geshke had their hitting streaks broken in VU's last game against MTSU. Kropf ended a 12-game streak, while Geshke was a nine games. Fausett is currently making a run at his season-high hit streak. He has gotten a hit in the last eight games.

Last Ten
Offensively, the Commodores have gotten the sticks going in the last ten games. Vanderbilt has a .337 team batting average in those games and has hit 24 doubles, one triple, and 11 home runs. Freshmen Aaron Fausett and Karl Nonemaker are hot, both hitting over the .400 mark. On the mound, Andy Beal is Vanderbilt's top hurler in the last 10 contests with a 2.45 ERA in four appearances and 14.2 innings pitched.

Close Calls
The Commodores have now had 11 one-run games this year. Unfortunately, Vanderbilt is 3-8 in those games. Three of VU's one-run losses came to nationally-ranked opponents, Wake Forest, Houston, Auburn and South Carolina. Five of those games have also been extra-inning games (VU is 2-3 in extra-innings).

Strike'em Out
The VU pitching staff has totaled 303 strikeouts this season and is on pace to surpass last season's total of 408. The team single-season record is 440 (1971 team).

Making An Appearance
Damon Yee is Vanderbilt's "go-to-guy" in the bullpen. The reliever has made an appearance in over half of VU's games this season. In 22 appearances he has a 4.27 ERA and he is 3.94 in SEC games (11th overall in SEC games). His 22 times in relief is a conference second-best, following Florida's Ben Grezlovaki.

Double It Up
The Commodores have pounded out 88 doubles this season. VU is on pace to probably surpass last year's total of 120 doubles and could break the team single-season record of 122 doubles by the 1997 team. Eighteen games still remain in 1999.

Hunter Bledsoe leads the team with 16 two-baggers. He has hit at least two doubles in four games this year. Matt Kata has hit the most in a game this season. The junior smashed three doubles at MTSU (4/14) and holds the school record for doubles in a game (vs. Alabama, 1998).

Football or Baseball?
Four Commodores are also members of the Vanderbilt football team. Three, David Wallace, Dan Stricker and Adam Ditto, will return to the grid iron for the Commodores after baseball season is over. In VU's spring game, which was held on April 4, all three made a contribution. Wide receiver and outfielder Adam Ditto had two catches for 17 yards. Pitcher and wide receiver Dan Stricker made the biggest catch in the scrimmage with a 50 yard grab. David Wallace (QB/C) was 7-for-12 in passing with 81 yards. He threw the 50-yard bomb to Stricker.

Broadcast Change
The Vanderbilt Radio Network has moved its baseball game broadcasts to a new radio station. Tune into WAMB, 1160-AM for the games.

Tough Competition
Vanderbilt will face its fifth ranked opponent when it meets Arkansas this weekend. The Commodores met Houston, Wake Forest, LSU and Auburn, who were all ranked at the time VU played them. As of today, the Commodores have yet to face two ranked teams (Florida and Alabama). Four of VU's past opponents are currently ranked No. 3 Auburn, No. 7 Baylor, No. 19 LSU, and No. 27 South Carolina.

In the SEC
Southeastern Conference play is halfway through and the race is on for the SEC Tournament. Vanderbilt is one game ahead of its 1998 mark (3-12) at this time. No team is undefeated and Arkansas is in the lead with a 12-3 conference record. The Commodores are tied for fourth in the Eastern Division with Kentucky and are four games out of first place.

Multi-RBI and Multi-Hit Games
Andy Kropf is the first Commodore to have five RBI in a game this season. It was a career-high for the junior catcher against Ole Miss (4/4). He leads VU with 10 multi-RBI games. Only he and Mark Prior have had four RBI in a game. Karl Nonemaker had a career-high five hits for Vanderbilt last week in its win over LSU. Hunter Bledsoe has the most multiple hit games (19).

Save the Day
It took Vanderbilt 23 games to finally get a save this season. VU has recorded its saves against Tenn. Tech, W. Kentucky, LSU and Middle Tennessee. Closer Matt Kata, who has two this season, has moved up to third on VU's all-time save list with eight career saves. Chris Maultsby and Mike Byrd earned their first career saves this season.

Vanderbilt only recorded four saves in 1998 and Damon Yee had one of them. Closer Matt Kata had five career saves in 1997, his freshman season, and one last year.

Up Next
The Commodores remain home for a mid-week game with MTSU on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Vanderbilt then hits the road for Austin Peay on Wednesday and travels Georgia next weekend for a three-game SEC series.

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