Vanderbilt Commodores (15-17, 3-9) at #18 Louisiana State Tigers (22-12, 6-6)
Alex Box Stadium (7,006) - Baton Rouge, La.

Game #1 (33) - Friday, April 9, 7 p.m. CT
Game #2 (34) - Saturday, April 10, 4 p.m. CT
Game #3 (35) - Sunday, April 11, 1 p.m. CT

BASEBALL HOMEPAGE

Setting the Scene
The Vanderbilt baseball team (15-17, 3-9) enters this weekends series with a one-game win streak after defeating Evansville, 11-2 this past Wednesday. The Commodores snapped a nine-game SEC losing streak in last weekend's series with Ole Miss. Vanderbilt won 11-8 against the Rebels on Sunday, but dropped the first two games of the series, 7-6 and 13-5, respectively.

The Series
LSU leads the all-time seres with Vanderbilt, 34-16. The two teams will meet each other for the 51st time in Friday's meeting. In the last series in 1998, Vanderbilt managed to pick up the last game of the series, 8-7, but lost the first two games to the third-ranked Tigers, 5-3 and 6-4. Matt Kata had his first career start as a pitcher in the first game of the series and held the Tigers to a no-hitter through the first six innings. In LSU's 6-4 win, the Tigers hit a two-run homer in the ninth to win the game. VU's 8-7 upset snapped an 11-game SEC losing streak for the Commodores. The first meeting between the two teams was in 1974 when VU lost the game, 10-5. The Commodores have never swept the Tigers in Baton Rouge. The last time Tigers swept Vanderbilt was in 1997 at LSU In games played in Baton Rouge, Vanderbilt is 9-17 against LSU since 1943.

The Coaches
Vanderbilt‹Roy Mewbourne is in his 20th season at Vanderbilt (579-501-9) and his 26th season overall as a head coach (846-575-9). Mewbourne is 10-25 against LSU.
LSU‹Coach Skip Bertman is in his 16th season at the helm of LSU baseball. He owns a 66-68 record at Mississippi, while he is 200-185-2 overall (8 yrs.).

Scouting the Tigers
The LSU Tigers enter this weekend's series with an 22-12 overall record and a 6-6 conference record. LSU lost two games at Tennessee last weekend, 7-6 and 4-3. The Tigers won the first game of the Tennessee series, 6-4. This past Tuesday, the Tigers defeated New Orleans, 6-3. The Tigers are 5-5 in their last 10 games, 15-7 at home and are on a one-game win streak. LSU has never lost a series at home against an SEC East team since round-robin play began in 1986.

LSU's loss on April 3 to Tennessee broke a 12-game win streak by LSU over the Vos. At the time, it was the second-longest win streak by one team over another in the SEC (longest- 14 games by Auburn over Vanderbilt). RHP Kurt Ainsworth struck out 16 batter in a 8-4 win over UT on April 2.

Radio/TV
Saturday's and Sunday's game will be broadcast on WNSR-AM 560 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 (4.23 ERA, 2-1, 38.1 IP, 18 ER, 40 K)
Saturday  36  Mike Byrd (Jr., RHP)   '99 Stats (3.91 ERA, 2-4, 59.1 IP, 21 ER, 54 K)
Sunday    21  Mark Prior (Fr., RHP)  '99 Stats (4.12 ERA, 4-4, 59 IP, 27 ER, 50 K)
LSU Tigers
Friday    31  Kurt Ainsworth (So., RHP)  '99 Stats (2.59 ERA, 6-3, 55.2 IP, 16 ER, 77 K)
Saturday  41  Brandon Bowe (Sr., RHP)    '99 Stats (4.59 ERA, 6-2, 51.0 IP, 26 ER, 51 K)
Sunday    27  Trey Hodges (Jr., RHP)     '99 Stats (7.16 ERA, 3-2, 32.2 IP, 26 ER, 37 K)	

Last Action: VU Splits with Evansville
Vanderbilt tied its season-high 18 hits in an 11-2 win over Evansville on Wednesday. The Commodores split with the Aces after losing, 10-9, on Tuesday.

Starter Mark Prior got his fourth win of the season after allowing only one hit and no runs in four innings pitched. Matt Kata opened the game with his fourth homer of the year and had an RBI-triple in the fifth. VU scored three runs in the fifth, four more in the sixth and were led by Kata, Hunter Bledsoe and Aaron Fausett, who each had three hits and two RBI.

Tuesday's game was a heartbreaker. Vanderbilt gave up an 8-1 lead and lost the game as the Aces scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to get the win.

Last Action: VU Hits Its Way to an 11-8 Win Over Ole Miss
Vanderbilt pounded out a season-high 18 hits, including four home runs get an 11-8 win over the Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday afternoon. The victory snapped a nine-game SEC losing streak for the Commodores and prevented the Rebels from a sweep this weekend.

Freshman Aaron Fausett hit two home runs and went 4-for-5 on the day with three RBI to lead VU at the plate. It was the first time a Commodore has hit two homers in a game this season. Andy Kropf also had a big day for the Commodores with his first career grand slam and five RBI.

Reliever Andy Beal (2-1) worked for 4.2 innings giving up only two runs off of five hits for the win. He tied his career-high strikeout total with seven.

The Commodores lost the first two games of the series to the Rebels, 7-6 and 13-5.

Team Comparisons
Statistically, LSU has the advantage of the Commodores in batting, pitching and fielding, but the margins are close.

LSU and VU are 10th and 11th, respectively in SEC batting average. The Tigers are third in conference pitching, while the Commodores are second. LSU ranks 8th in SEC fielding percentage, while Vandebilt is 10th.

Recent VU/LSU Scores
1998 - LSU, 5-3
       LSU, 6-4
       VU, 8-7
1997 - LSU, 14-5
       LSU, 8-7
       LSU, 7-3
1996 - LSU, 15-0
       VU, 3-2
       LSU, 14-4

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 last Sunday.

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 eighth in the nation. He is currently hitting an amazing .463 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 is also ranked 20th in the nation in stolen bases. He has stolen 23 this season and has only been thrown out twice. He is averaging 0.73 stolen bases a game and has surpassed his total from his junior year (10).

Close As Can Be
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).

Last Ten
Three Commodores starters are hitting over .400 in VU's last 10 games. Andy Kropf is the hottest at the plate with a .436 average, five doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI. Hunter Bledsoe (.432) and Sean Luellwitz (.409) follow.

On the mound, Andy Beal has pitched 12 innings in the last ten games and has a 3.75 ERA.

Strike'em Out
The VU pitching staff has totaled 255 strikeouts this season and is on pace to surpass last season's total of 408. The team single-season record is 440 (1971 team).

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.

Hitting Streak Put On Hold
Aaron Fausett had a 16-game hitting streak until this last weekend's series when he went 0-4 on Friday night. It is the longest streak by any Commodore this season.

Hunter Bledsoe is the only other Commodore this season to come close to Fausett's streak. He had a 15-game hitting streak earlier in the year.

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 20 appearances he has a 3.83 ERA.

Double It Up
The Commodores have pounded out 76 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. Twenty-three games still remain in 1999.

Hunter Bledsoe leads the team with 15 two-baggers. He has hit at least two doubles in four games this year.

Don't Strikeout
Karl Nonemaker has the least amount of strikeouts this season. In 112 at bats, Nonemaker has struck out only nine times. Hunter Bledsoe has only 10 K's in 123 at bats. He has also walked 24 times this year to lead the Commodores.

Home Run Figures
Vanderbilt now has 30 total home runs this season. Leading the way is Hunter Bledsoe with eight. Aaron Fausett follows with seven. He hit two in one game last weekend against Ole Miss. He is the only Commodore to do so this season.

Tough Competition
When Vanderbilt meets No. 18 LSU this weekend it will be the fourth ranked team Vanderbilt has played. The Commodores met Houston, Wake Forest and Auburn, who were all ranked and still are in this week's polls. As of today, the Commodores have yet to face three ranked teams (Arkansas, Florida, and Alabama). Four of VU's past opponents are currently ranked No. 4 Auburn, No. 8 Baylor, and No. 24 South Carolina.

Turn It Over
Matt Kata is one of the top players in the conference when it comes to fielding a double play. He has fielded 24 this season, good for second in the SEC behind Arkansas's Joe Jester. Kata is third in assists with 112. As a team, Vanderbilt has seen 30 double plays this year.

In the SEC
Southeastern Conference play has started and the race is on for the SEC Tournament. No team is undefeated and Arkansas is in the lead with a 9-3 conference record. The Commodores are tied for fifth in the Eastern Division with Tennessee 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 last week against Ole Miss (4/4). Only he and Mark Prior have had four RBI in a game. Hunter Bledsoe is at the top of the list for multi-hit games. He has gotten four hits in three games this year.

A Hero Has Emerged
It took Vanderbilt 23 games to finally get a save this season. VU recorded its saves against Tenn. Tech and W. Kentucky. Closer Matt Kata earned the saves with one inning pitched in each game. He moved up to third on VU's all-time save list with eight career saves.

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.

Big-D
Vanderbilt has four defensive leaders who have at least a .978 fielding percentage. OF Kevin Geshke is at a perfect 1.000 in 28 attempts. Clayton McCullough has been tough behind the plate with a .990 fielding percentage. Karl Nonemaker is .982 in center field (55 attempts) and first baseman Sean Luellwitz has a .978 fielding percentage.

VU To Play at Nashville Sounds' Greer Stadium
The Vanderbilt Athletic Department has announced that two of the Vanderbilt baseball teams's Southeastern Conference games will be played at the Nashville Sounds' Greer Stadium this spring. One game from two different SEC series has been moved.

The Commodores will now play Arkansas on Saturday, April 17 and NCAA College World Series qualifier and nationally-ranked Florida on Saturday, May 1 at Greer Stadium. The game time for Arkansas has been moved from a 2 p.m. to a 7 p.m. start. The first pitch for the Florida game remains the same and is set for 7 p.m.

"In cooperation with Sounds organization and Greer Stadium we are excited to showcase some of the Southeastern Conference's top teams in a minor league atmosphere," said Vanderbilt head coach Roy Mewbourne. "It's great to have the opportunity to take two of our games to a triple-A stadium."

Up Next
The Commodores return home for a game with Memphis on Tuesday. VU travel down the road to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to play MTSU on Wednesday. Next weekend Vanderbilt hosts nationally-ranked Arkansas for a three-game series.

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