Baseball Begins Preseason Practice 1/22/02

With three weeks remaining before the first pitch of the 2002 season, the Vanderbilt Commodores began preseason practice today at Hawkins Field.

The Commodores return 18 lettermen from last season, including four starting position players and seven returning pitchers. Nine seniors return, including first baseman/catcher Sean Luellwitz who led Vanderbilt in seven offensive categories in 2001. Outfielder Karl Nonemaker, a first team All-Southeastern Conference selection in 2000, has fully recovered from wrist injuries that cut short his junior season.

However, the majority of the 2002 Commodores' roster consists of underclassmen - 11 freshmen and five sophomores, including 2001 Collegiate Baseball honorable mention Freshman All-American, Robert Ransom, a sophomore right-handed pitcher. Ransom led all Vanderbilt pitchers a year ago with a 4.92 ERA, two saves and 24 appearances.

Ranked as high as seventh-best nationally according to Baseball America magazine, Vanderbilt's freshman class includes highly touted pitchers Jeremy Sowers, Scott Shapiro and Jeff Sues and infielder Tony Mansolino. Sowers and Shapiro declined Major League Baseball Draft selections from Cincinnati and San Diego, respectively, to play at Vanderbilt.