Game Preview: Kentucky at No. 9 Vanderbilt, Game 2
After a wild night of SEC baseball Thursday night, the standings got a little more complicated, but this time the standings do not favor Vanderbilt.
The Commodores came back down 7-2 to take a 8-7 win over Kentucky in walk-off fashion Thursday night. But that was just the start of last night’s chaos.
In the LSU and South Carolina series, The Gamecocks came back down 5-3 in the late stages of the game to take down the top-ranked Tigers 6-5, also in walk-off fashion. With Georgia taking care of business against Texas A&M, it created a three-way tie for third in the SEC between Vanderbilt, LSU and Georgia.
Due to records against common opponents between the three teams, Vanderbilt is now on the short end of the tiebreaker as the Commodores now place as the No. 5 seed in the SEC Tournament bracket, on the outside looking in on the spots for a double-bye.
So what needs to happen for Vanderbilt to climb back into a double-bye situation for next week’s tournament?
First, Vanderbilt has to keep pace or jump ahead of Georgia. The easiest way would be for Vanderbilt to keep winning and hope for Georgia to lose to Texas A&M at least once. Another way Vanderbilt could jump back into a top four seed would be to position themselves back into a three-way tie for the fourth spot with Georgia and Auburn, which is easier said than done after Auburn lost its first game to Ole Miss.
For Kentucky, the Wildcats' loss in the first game of the weekend put them in a three-way tie with Mississippi State and Oklahoma for the No. 11 seed. Due to the records against common opponents, Kentucky would fall in the middle of the three spots at the No. 12 spot.
Regardless of what happens, the variety of possibilities that could shake up the standings over the next two days will be fun to watch unfold and is likely to change after the games finish tonight.
A win tonight would give Vanderbilt its third consecutive conference series win for the first time since 2023. Here is everything to know about tonight’s game against Kentucky:
Vanderbilt Commodores Starting Lineup
- Rustan Rigdon, 2B
- RJ Austin, CF
- Riley Nelson, 1B
- Brodie Johnston, 3B
- Braden Holcomb, LF
- Colin Barczi, C
- Jonathan Vastine, SS
- Jacob Humphrey, RF
- Mike Mancini, DH
Kentucky Wildcats Starting Lineup
- Tyler Bell, SS
- Luke Lawrence, 2B
- Cole Hage, LF
- James McCoy, 1B
- Patrick Herrera, 3B
- Carson Hansen, RF
- Kyuss Gargett, DH
- Devin Burkes, C
- Griffin Cameron, CF
Pitching Matchup
RHP Nic McCay (5-0, 4.06 ERA, 64.1 IP, 62 SO, 36 BB, 29 ER, .192 b/avg) vs. LHP JD Thompson (4-5, 3.88 ERA, 72.0 IP, 94 SO, 23 BB, 31 ER, .234 b/avg)
Injury Report
Vanderbilt will be without pitcher Hudson Barton once again tonight after not being available Thursday. Kentucky will be without five players: infielder Ethan Hindle, outfielder Will Marcy, pitcher Cole Hentschel, catcher Ryan Schwartz and pitcher Robert Hogan.
How To Watch: Kentucky at No. 9 Vanderbilt
When: 5 p.m., Friday
Where: Hawkins Field, Nashville, Tenn.
TV: SECN+
Radio: Live Radio
Stats: Live Stats
Vanderbilt Commodores On SI:
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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.