By Derek Terry

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Another opportunity for UK baseball to move away from the NCAA bubble and slide into the field of 64 presents itself this weekend.

UK (25-18) will host No. 8 Vanderbilt (33-13), the defending national champions, in a three-game set at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Zack Brown and Dustin Beggs have been dynamic in recent SEC starts for the Cats. Brown was named SEC Pitcher Of The Week after shutting out No. 5 Florida over seven innings in his last start. The sophomore has now pitched 15.1 consecutive scoreless innings to earn wins over Florida and Tennessee, evening his record at 4-4 on the season. Beggs, who transferred from Georgia Perimeter College, is 4-1 in conference play and has won his last three starts. The right-hander has pitched at least eight innings in those starts, allowing five earned runs and striking out 20 batters in 24.1 innings.

With Brown and Beggs slotted for Friday and Saturday, the question as to who takes the mound on Sunday is still up in the air. Andrew Nelson has started the last two Sunday games for UK, but only lasted 3.2 innings in his last outing in a loss to Florida. He allowed eight hits and five earned runs in the game. Junior preseason All-American Kyle Cody was the Sunday starter for the early part of the SEC slate, but was relinquished to a bullpen role after his earned run average ballooned to over nine and record dropped to 0-3.

The Commodores enter the weekend with a 5-5 record in their last 10 games, but still hold sole possession of first place in the SEC East with a 15-6 conference record.

Strong starting pitching has been the hallmark for Vanderbilt this season. Right-handed starters Carson Fulmer and Lexington native Walker Buehler have led the charge for a pitching staff that boasts a team ERA of 2.90. Fulmer has an 8-1 record with a 1.52 ERA on the season. Buehler is 3-1 on the season and is holding the opponents batting average to just .168.

First pitch for Friday and Saturday are set for 6:30 p.m. with Sunday’s game set for 1 p.m.