Vanderbilt Plays Belmont Before Hitting the Road Again
Fresh off its eight-day, four-game Spring Break trip through Florida Vanderbilt (10-3) takes on in-town foe Belmont (8-5) Wednesday, March 13, at 3 p.m. at Hawkins Field. The Commodores completed the Sunshine State road trip with a 3-1 mark, defeating Campbell, Central Florida and Temple while losing their second game with Central Florida. VU hits the road again Friday for a three-game series at perennial power LSU to begin Southeastern Conference play. Enjoying its best season beginning since the 12-1 start of 1998, Vanderbilt reached the double-digit win mark relatively quickly with clutch hitting and dependable pitching. A strong point this season, Commodore pitching has improved following the layoff endured by freshman left-hander Jeremy Sowers. It should continue to improve with the return of 2001 Collegiate Baseball honorable mention Freshman All-American Robert Ransom this weekend. The right-hander has sat the early portion of the season rehabbing from shoulder surgery performed during last summer. Sean Luellwitz continues to guide the Vanderbilt offense, leading the squad in six offensive categories. He homered last week in wins over Central Florida and Temple. Several pitchers will action Wednesday for the Commodores, starting with righthander Chris Maultsby (0-1, 2.08 ERA). Belmont comes to Hawkins Field having lost five of their last six contest after starting the year with a 7-1 record. The Bruins own the Atlantic Sun Conference’s top ERA at 3.50. Left-hander Mike Sawyer (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will pitch for Belmont. He threw 4.0 innings of six-hit three-run baseball against Wright State the last time he took the mound. The Bruins are led offensively by Mike Martin’s .390 average. He leads the team with 16 hits and 12 runs scored. Josh Brummett and Scott Browning have knocked in a team-best 10 RBI each this year.

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