Vanderbilt Preview

Belmont (14-7) vs. No. 4/1 Vanderbilt (17-2)

Tuesday, March 22 | 12pm CT

Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats | Game Notes

First Horizon Park | Nashville, Tenn.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- One of the more highly anticipated games of the schedule is on tap for the Belmont University baseball team on Tuesday, as they face No. 4/1 Vanderbilt in a neutral non-conference matchup at First Horizon Park, home of the Nashville Sounds, the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Originally scheduled for 6 p.m. first pitch has been moved to noon, due to inclement weather in the forecast for Middle Tennessee on Tuesday evening. 

Due to staffing issues presented by the late schedule change, no fans will be allowed inside First Horizon Park. 

The Third and Home bar above left field will open at 11 a.m. for those wishing for an in-person viewing option. 

While there will not be a video stream, live audio play-by-play of the action will be carried on the Bruin Sports Network, and live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com, with in-game updates posted to Twitter by @BelmontBaseball. 

What's Bruin 

• RHP Jordan Zuger is the projected starter on the mound for the Bruins. The freshman from Hendersonville, Tenn., has started all four midweek games for Belmont this season and is 1-0 with a 5.23 ERA in 10.1 innings on the hill. 

• Vanderbilt's projected starter is LHP Jordan Futrell. Futrell is 3-0 in three starts with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings.

• Guy Lipscomb earned his first career OVC Player of the Week nod on March 21 after going 13-for-19 (.684) in four games with four stolen bases and no strikeouts. 

• The sophomore center fielder from Franklin, Tenn., is currently 2nd in the country in stolen bases (19) and leads the team in in batting average (.392), hits (31), runs (18), on-base percentage (.438), slugging percentage (.532), and triples (3). 

• Kyle Brennan picked up his ninth save of the season on Saturday against Wofford. The senior from Franklin, Tenn., currently leads the country in saves and is tied for the all-time program record for career saves (26, Jon Ivie) 

• In Belmont's last win over Vanderbilt, which came in 2018, Brennan threw two scoreless innings and recorded four strikeouts in an 8-5 victory over the No. 8 Commodores 

• Belmont is 4-0 in midweek games this season (Middle Tennessee, Lipscomb, Evansville, WKU) 

• Belmont is coming off a tight series loss to Wofford at E.S. Rose Park, falling on Friday, 14-5, before tying the series on Saturday, 6-5, and dropping the finale on Sunday, 8-2 

• Brodey Heaton hit his second home run of the season in Saturday's 6-5 win over Wofford 

• Head coach Dave Jarvis recorded his 1,000th career win with an 11-3 victory over Middle Tennessee on Feb. 23 

• Belmont's pitching staff has given up just 13 home runs in 21 games, and are holding opponents to a .231 batting average 

• From Feb. 19 to March 6, the Bruins won ten games in a row, their longest winning streak since beginning the 2010 season 10-0 

• Tuesday will be the first neutral site contest of the season for the Bruins. They are not scheduled to play another game at a neutral site until the OVC Tournament from May 25-29 in Lexington, Ky. 

• Ten Bruins hail from the Nashville area and the surrounding suburbs: Guy Lipscomb (Franklin), Aaron Hubbell (Mt. Juliet), Blake Barton (Franklin), Kyle Brennan (Franklin), Ethan Harden (Franklin), Jordan Zuger (Hendersonville), Logan Jarvis (Franklin), Carson Shacklett (Brentwood), Chandler Schultz (Nashville), and Jack Rando (Brentwood) 

About the Commodores 

• Vanderbilt was ranked #1 in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll, and ranked #4 in the latest D1Baseball poll 

• Last season, Vanderbilt lost in the College World Series Finals to Mississippi State in three games 

• In 2019, Vanderbilt beat Michigan for their second national championship 

• The Commodores are currently 2nd in the NCAA in ERA (2.06) and 9th in batting average (.327) 

• Vanderbilt has just two losses this season, both to Oklahoma State on Opening Weekend, and enters Tuesday on a 16-game win streak, the longest active win streak in the country 

• Tate Kolwyck is the reigning SEC Player of the Week. The senior infielder collected seven hits, with two doubles and two home runs across four games, including a three-game sweep of Missouri. 

• Dominic Keegan leads the team in batting average (.426), on-base percentage (.506), slugging percentage (.765) and RBIs (22) 

• Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin and Belmont head coach Dave Jarvis have been good friends since Corbin took the job in 2003 

Series History 

• Tuesday marks the 78th all-time matchup between Belmont and Vanderbilt 

• Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 58-19 

• In Belmont's Division I era (since 1998), the Bruins have beaten the Commodores on eight occasions in 26 total matchups 

• The two teams last played on March 16, 2021, with No. 2 Vanderbilt winning, 4-1 

• The last Bruin win came in 2018, when they defeated No. 8 Vanderbilt, 8-4 

• The Bruins last beat a Top-5 Vanderbilt team on April 14, 2015, when they took down No. 4 Vandy, 3-2 

Follow Belmont baseball on social media - @BelmontBaseball on Twitter and @belmontbaseball on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.            

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