Vanderbilt Commodores

No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 25 Auburn Announce Starting Pitchers for SEC Opening Weekend

The Commodores and Tigers are two of the many ranked teams in the SEC that will begin to face each other on the diamond this weekend.
Taylor Hodges|
Vanderbilt pitcher JD Thompson (22) pitches against Xavier during the first inning at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, March 7, 2025.
Vanderbilt pitcher JD Thompson (22) pitches against Xavier during the first inning at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, March 7, 2025. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The SEC can pretty much lay claim to having the strongest, deepest conferences in the country in, pretty much, every sport. Just look at how many teams the SEC will send to next weeks’ NCAA Tournament. Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney included 13 SEC teams in his latest men’s bracketology.

While the SEC softball teams is able to make this argument for themselves, the conference’s baseball teams is deeper and stronger than any other sport. In the latest D1Baseball Top 25 Rankings, the SEC laid claim to the top four spots, five of the top 10 spots, nine of the top 16 and 12 in the entire top 25.

And now we get to watch those teams play one another.

This weekend marks the start of conference play in the SEC and No. 16 Vanderbilt (14-3) will start off its slate of conference games against No. 25 Auburn (14-3). Here’s the schedule of games for the Commodores in Auburn, Ala.:

No. 16 Vanderbilt at No. 25 Auburn Weekend Schedule

  • Game 1: 6 p.m., Friday, SECN+
  • Game 2: 6 p.m., Saturday, SECN+
  • Game 3: 2 p.m., Sunday, SECN+

Both Auburn and Vanderbilt have announced their starting pitchers for the weekend and there weren’t any surprises. Here’s a breakdown of each pitching matchup:

Game 1

LHP JD Thompson (2-0, 3.66 ERA, 29 K, 5 BB, .215 b/avg.) vs. RHP Samuel Dutton (2-1, 1.31 ERA, 28 K, 5 BB, .286 b/avg.)

Game 2

LHP Ethan McElvain (0-2, 8.74 ERA, 22 K, 12 BB, .311 b/avg.) vs. LHP Cade Fisher (0-0, 5.14 ERA, 12 K, 7 BB, .217 b/avg.)

Game 3

RHP Cody Bowker (2-1, 1.89 ERA, 28 K, 8 BB, .125 b/avg.) vs. RHP Christian Chatterton (2-0, 2.66 ERA, 23 K, 6 BB, .217 b/avg.)

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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