Vanderbilt Commodores

Game Preview: Vanderbilt vs. Louisville, NCAA Regional Winner's Bracket Game

The Vanderbilt Commodores face the Louisville Cardinals in rematch of a regular season game that saw the Cardinals win 5-4.
Taylor Hodges|
Louisville's outfielder Lucas Moore (53) knocks two runs in against Vanderbilt Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Louisville's outfielder Lucas Moore (53) knocks two runs in against Vanderbilt Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium. | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Baseball players have notoriously good memories, so don’t expect Vanderbilt or Louisville players to be too surprised by what they see Saturday night in Nashville.

The Commodores faced Louisville in their final midweek, non-conference game of the season and lost 5-4. The Cardinals had to use eight different pitchers to get the win and wasn’t even able to take the lead until Vanderbilt’s starting pitcher Austin Nye left the game.

The Cardinals’ best pitcher, Patrick Forbes, wasn’t available for that Tuesday night game and won’t be available this time either after leading Louisville to a win in Friday night’s game against East Tennessee State.

Without its best pitcher available, Louisville could look to implement a similar pitching strategy and use half of its bullpen against the Commodores.

But the Cardinals won’t be facing a freshman this time. They’ll get to face Vanderbilt’s No. 2 starter, Cody Bowker and may also have to contend with a Vanderbilt bullpen that used just one pitcher last night against Wright State.


Vanderbilt Commodores Starting Lineup

  1. Rustan Rigdon, 2B
  2. RJ Austin, CF
  3. Riley Nelson, 1B
  4. Brodie Johnston, 3B
  5. Braden Holcomb, LF
  6. Colin Barczi, C
  7. Jonathan Vastine, SS
  8. Jacob Humphrey, RF
  9. Mike Mancini, DH


Louisville Cardinals Starting Lineup

  1. Lucas Moore, CF
  2. Matt Klein, C
  3. Jake Munroe, 3B
  4. Eddie King Jr., RF
  5. Garret Pike, DH
  6. Zion Rose, LF
  7. Tague Davis, 1B
  8. Kamau Neighbors, 2B
  9. Alex Alicea, SS


Pitching Matchup

RHP Cody Bowker (3-4, 4.46 ERA, 66.2 IP, 93 SO, 28 BB, 33 ER, .220 b/avg.) vs. RHP Tucker Biven (3-0, 4.75 ERA, 30.1 IP, 26 SO, 18 BB, 16 ER, .274 b/avg.)

Weather Forecast

Conditions will be fairly good for the Commodores and Cardinals. AccuWeather’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the lower 70s. Winds won’t be as strong as previous games at Hawkins Field at eight mph (west) and gusts up to 14 mph. It’ll be slightly humid, too.

How to Watch: Vanderbilt vs. Louisville

Who: Vanderbilt Commodores (42-16, 19-11 SEC) vs. Louisville Cardinals (36-21, 15-15 ACC)

When: 8 p.m., Saturday

Where: Hawkins Field; Nashville, Tenn.

TV: ESPN2

Radio: Live Radio

Stats: Live Stats

Vanderbilt Commodores On SI:

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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