Following a sweep of The Gumps in Tuscaloosa, Vanderbilt welcomes the other Alabama team to The Hawk for a Top 25 clash. As I wrote in Tuesday’s column—“What Will It Take to Receive a National Seed?”—this is likely our toughest remaining series.

The War Tigers (27-14; 10-8 SEC) are coming off a huge 2-1 series win over the Admiral Ackbars of Ole Miss (including a 10th inning walk off in game three). Still, we should be favored in all games.

Last year, Casey Mize was a one man wrecking crew on the mound. This year, their strength is still their pitching, but they lack anyone who, like Mize, can make you look silly. As a team, the War Tigers are 9th in the SEC with a 4.72 ERA. Respectable, but not dominant.

At the plate, as on the mound, the War Tigers are 9th in the SEC with a .232 batting average, and have not one guy hitting above .300 on the year (Conor Davis is at exactly .300, and their 2nd best hitter, Matt Scheffler, is at .283).

Advantage Commodores.

On The Mound

THURSDAY 6:30pm CT ESPNU: Jr. RHP Drake “Safari Planet” Fellows (8-0, 3.39 ERA) vs. So. RHP Tanner “Leather Skin” Burns (4-2, 2.32 ERA)

FRIDAY 7pm CT SECN: Fr. RHP Kumar “White Castle” Rocker (4-4, 4.61 ERA) vs. Fr. RHP Richard “Hissy” Fitts (3-2, 4.55 ERA)

SATURDAY 1pm CT SECN+: Sr. RHP Patrick “Mad Dog” Raby (6-1, 2.94 ERA) vs. Fr. LHP Brooks “Dunn” Fuller (2-1, 2.78 ERA)

The Lineup

See you in the comments. Feel free to post both on the game and the NFL Draft, as I will be watching both.