Vanderbilt Starts Southeastern Conference Play at LSU Winners in seven of their last eight games, Vanderbilt takes its 11-3 mark to Baton Rouge, La. this weekend for a three-game Southeastern Conference series opener at LSU. Off to their best start since the 1998 season (13-1), the Commodores will test their early-season momentum against the eighth-ranked Tigers beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT. Saturday’s game starts at 2 p.m. The series finale on Sunday begins at 11:30 a.m. CT.

Ransom Should Make Return Against Tigers Vanderbilt sophomore right-hander Robert Ransom is scheduled to make his 2002 debut in a relief role this weekend against the LSU Tigers. A 2001 Louisville Slugger/ Collegiate Baseball Honorable Mention Freshman All-American last season, Ransom has sat out the early portion of the 2002 season recovering from summer shoulder surgery.

The LSU Series LSU leads the all-time series 40-18 dating back 1974. The Tigers took two of three from the Commodores last season. VU snapped a four-game losing streak in the series on Friday (4/20/02) with a 7-5 win. LSU responded with 7-2 and 18-1 wins on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. LSU has won six of the last seven contests with Vanderbilt. The last series win for the Commodores came in 1988 in Nashville (5-4, 3-2, 1-5). The last time Vanderbilt took a series from LSU in Louisiana was in 1957 under then-head coach Dick Richardson (8-7, 1-3, 2-0).Vanderbilt also split a four-game series with the Tigers in 1974 (5-10, 7-8, 7-3, 5-3).

Complete Notes