Vanderbilt Baseball Opens SEC Play: The Anchor – Sports Illustrated

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The college baseball calendar has officially turned to conference play as Vanderbilt hosts No. 13 LSU this weekend to open SEC play.
The two teams did not play each other in a series a season ago, but Vanderbilt did beat LSU in a series in 2024, the last time the two schools met during conference play. This season, both LSU and Vanderbilt have had their own struggles heading into conference-opening weekend.
LSU enters this weekend with a 2-4 record in its last six games, including losing a series to Sacramento State a week ago. Suddenly, the once No. 2 ranked Tigers have found themselves in a spot of adversity.
Vanderbilt will hope to give LSU more struggles this weekend, but it will not be easy. The Commodores have had their fair share of struggles and adversity this season as well. Vanderbilt enters conference play with a 11-7 record and coming off a 14-6 win over Indiana State in a game where it had to come back down 6-2 to win.
What has been among the biggest issues for Vanderbilt this season is its injuries, especially to its pitching staff. Austin Nye, a starting pitcher that would be in the normal rotation, is still out and is not scheduled to pitch this weekend. Additionally, Vanderbilt also has been dealing with injuries to pitchers Miller Green and Matthew Shorey since the beginning of the season.
The Commodores are going to need to find stability and consistency in its pitching rotation. Perhaps that can be found this weekend. Vanderbilt and LSU begin their series tonight at 6 p.m. CT.
176 days
There were no games played yesterday.
Vanderbilt men’s tennis vs. No. 18 Auburn, 1 p.m. CT
No. 4 seed Vanderbilt men’s basketball vs. No. 5 seed Tennessee, Quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Vanderbilt women’s tennis at Mississippi State, 3 p.m. CT.
Vanderbilt baseball vs. No. 13 LSU, Game 1 at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
Vanderbilt swimming at the CSCAA National Invitational Championship, Day 2.
Vanderbilt track and field at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Day 1.
24hrs ⏰ pic.twitter.com/X8vQTHbFmi
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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