Vanderbilt Opens SEC Baseball Play at No. 10 Mississippi State on Friday

Winners in six of their last nine games, Vanderbilt (10-6) travels to Starkville, Miss., to battle No. 10 Mississippi State (11-1-1) on the opening weekend of Southeastern Conference play. The series begins Friday at 6:30 p.m., at Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium. Game two is Saturday at 2 p.m., with the series finale Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The series will feature several interesting matchups, including showdowns between the league’s top two defensive squads, the league’s top two pitching staffs and arguably two of the conference’s best pitchers in Vanderbilt sophomore left-hander Jeremy Sowers and Mississippi State junior southpaw Paul Maholm on Friday. The VU-MSU series will also mark the first meeting between first-year Commodore coach Tim Corbin and 24-year Bulldog skipper Ron Polk, the dean of SEC coaches.

Vanderbilt entered the week with a 2.30 team ERA, second in the SEC only to Mississippi State’s 2.25 ERA. The Commodores (.982 fielding percentage) also ranked second to the Bulldogs (.983) in team defense.

Vanderbilt will send Sowers (0-2, 3.06 ERA), a second team preseason All-American to the mound on Friday. Sowers, who entered the week second in the league in strikeouts with 36, has walked only eight batters and allowed 11 earned runs in 32.1 innings. However, Sowers has suffered from a lack of run support as Commodore hitters have produced only two runs a contest when he starts. Mississippi State will counter with their second team preseason All-American in Maholm (2-1, 0.90 ERA). The Bulldog hurler has 23 strikeouts and only four walks in 20.0 innings this season. It marks the first meeting between the two pitchers.

Saturday will see VU go with junior right-hander Robert Ransom (2-0, 3.33) while MSU will counter with sophomore right-hander Alan Johnson (2-0, 1.86 ERA). Sunday has Commodore freshman southpaw Ryan Mullins (1-1, 2.59 ERA) starting against Bulldog sophomore left-hander Todd Nicholas (1-0, 2.25). On the season, Mississippi State has hit the ball better than Vanderbilt, entering the week with a .321 batting average compared to .261 for the Commodores.

Complete Game Notes