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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Baseball's 10-day undefeated run will face a tall task on Tuesday night, as the Hilltoppers travel to Nashville to take on No. 5 Vanderbilt. First pitch at the Commodores' Hawkins Field will be at 6:30 p.m. The contest will be streamed on SEC Network + and broadcasted on the Hilltopper-IMG Sports Radio Network.
After playing 10 of its past 15 games at Nick Denes Field, the Hilltoppers begin a stretch with 8-of-9 games away from home.
SERIES HISTORY
- WKU and Vanderbilt will meet for the 99th time on the diamond, with the Commodores holding a 63-33-2 advantage in the all-time series. Vanderbilt has a 42-16-1 advantage in Nashville, as this will be the seventh-straight matchup in The Music City.
- The Hilltoppers and Commodores first met in 1913, when WKU defeated visiting Vanderbilt by a score of 2-0.
- A Commodore win would mean a fifth-consecutive win over the Hilltoppers for their fifth five-game win streak in the all-time series.
- WKU's longest run was a six-game win streak from 1990-92, as the Hilltoppers have only won back-to-back games over Vanderbilt in five other occasions.
- WKU was en route to stopping the skid in last season's game on April 10, but the Commodores turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of homeruns and won it by that score. (RECAP)
WKU PREVIEW
- WKU past week recaps: TUESDAY at Eastern Kentucky (W, 12-9) | FRIDAY DH vs. Charlotte (W, 8-4 & 8-5) | SUNDAY vs. Charlotte (T, 13-13)
- The Hilltoppers' last win over a ranked opponent was a 7-1 victory at No. 13 Southern Miss on Saturday, April 7 of last season. Three days later, WKU would play its most recent game against a ranked team, the 3-2 loss at No. 15 Vanderbilt on Tuesday, April 10.
- Right fielder Jake Sanford was named Conference USA Hitter of the Week on Monday for the second straight time, becoming only the third hitter in league history to earn the award in back-to-back weeks. (STORY)
- The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, native was also named the Perfect Game Player of the Week, while also earning Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and College Sports Madness weekly honors.
- On Tuesday, Sanford hit three homeruns in Richmond against the Colonels and drove in eight runs. Meanwhile, shortstop Kevin Lambert recorded a career-high eight assists in the field.
- On Friday, the Hilltoppers swept a doubleheader against the 49ers to put themselves in first place of C-USA by 0.5 games with a 7-1 record. Florida Atlantic and Southern Miss trailed with a 6-1 mark.
- On Sunday, the Hilltoppers and 49ers played to the 18th tie in WKU history and the first since a 6-6 final at Cumberland (Tenn.) on April 11, 1991, a span of 1,552 games in-between.
- WKU is 12-5Â this season when holding opponents to six or fewer runs, 14-1-1 when scoring five or more runs and has only lost once when holding a lead at the conclusion of any inning during the game.
- The Hilltoppers are 12-6-1 on turf fields, 5-0 when their starting pitcher goes five-plus innings and 12-5-1 when their opponent starts a righty
- WKU is 6-2 in one-run games, 8-2-1 when scoring first, 10-5-1 when holding the opponent scoreless in the first inning and 9-2 when out-hitting the opponent.
VANDERBILT PREVIEW
- Vanderbilt past week recaps: TUESDAY vs. Lipscomb (W, 15-1) | FRIDAY vs. Tennessee (W, 4-2) | SATURDAY vs. Tennessee (W, 10-4)Â | SUNDAY vs. Tennessee (L, 6-7)
- The Commodores enter the week with a 22-6Â overall record, a No. 5 ranking in D1 Baseball and a No. 3 spot in the national RPI calculation. Vanderbilt was riding a seven-game win streak before suffering a one-run loss to the Volunteers on Sunday afternoon.
- Vanderbilt boasts a 7-1 record in midweek games including posting five consecutive wins. A season ago, the Commodores went 4-4 through their first eight and finished 7-6 in midweek outings.
- Right fielder J.J. Bleday was named SEC Co-Player of the Week after he became the first Commodore since Aaron Westlake in 2010 to homer in four straight games. Bleday drove in 10 runs last week and took over the SEC lead by belting four homers in as many games.
- Vanderbilt will start righty Mason Hickman on Tuesday night. The sophomore's first two starts of the season — over the team's past two midweek matchup — have been lights-out. Hickman pitched six innings of scoreless baseball in each game, combining for 20 strikeouts and only seven baserunners allowed.
