April 12, 2007
COMMODORE GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Tentative Weekend Schedule:
Friday, April 13 at 5:30 p.m. CT (TV: Fox College Sports; Radio: 560 AM)
David Price (6-0, 2.50 ERA) vs. Chris Rusin (3-2, 4.53)
Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
Saturday, April 14 at 5:30 p.m. CT (TV: None; Radio: 560 AM)
Mike Minor (5-0, 1.88 ERA) vs. Andrew Albers (5-0, 3.30)
Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
Sunday, April 15 at 12 p.m. CT (TV: Fox College Sports; Radio: 560 AM)
Nick Christiani (5-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. Greg Dombrowski (4-1, 4.06)
Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
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FEATURE STORY 
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STATISTICS AND NOTESView Game Notes | VU Statistics | SEC Leaders
No. 1 Vanderbilt (29-5, 7-5 SEC)
vs. No. 19 Kentucky (25-7-1, 5-6-1 SEC)
at Cliff Hagan Stadium (3,000)
Series History
Kentucky leads 134-122-5 overall and 67-44-1 in Lexington.
UK took the series last year.
Last Year
April 30, 2006 Kentucky 12, Vanderbilt 9 Nashville
April 29, 2006 Kentucky 11, Vanderbilt 9 Nashville
April 28, 2006 Vanderbilt 8, Kentucky 6 Nashville
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 1 by Baseball America, the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll, Rivals.com and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll. VU is ranked No. 3 by Collegiate Baseball this week. Kentucky is ranked No. 19 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 22 by both the NCBWA and the Sports Weekly/ESPN poll.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 174-100 in his fifth season as head coach. He is 7-5 against Kentucky. UK’s John Cohen is 268-165-1 in eight seasons as a head coach. He is 122-81-1 in his fourth season in Lexington and 3-6 against Vanderbilt.
Radio/TV/Internet
All of the 2007 games can be heard free via the internet through Yahoo and can be accessed using the following web page: http://vucommodores.collegesports.com/sports/m-basebl/radio-tv-internet.html. In addition, the game will be broadcast locally in Nashville on WNSR 560 AM. Joe Fisher will call all the action this weekend. Live stats via can be accessed through www.ukathletics.com. The Friday and Sunday contests will be televised on Fox College Sports by the Big Blue Sports Network. Dick Gabriel (play-by-play) and Doug Flynn (analysis) will call all the action. Friday’s game will also be shown on a tape delayed basis on Fox Sports Net South. Check your local listings or call your cable or satellite operator for broadcast info in your area. Saturday’s contest will be web cast on a pay-per-view basis on www.ukathletics.com.
What’s On Tap
No. 1 Vanderbilt hits the road for the third time in the last four weekends of Southeastern Conference play against Kentucky at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The teams will start the three game set Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT and will continue on the same time on Saturday, before closing things out on Sunday at Noon CT.
Scouting Kentucky
Kentucky is 25-7-1 on the year and 5-6-1 in SEC play after dropping two of three to Tennessee at home last weekend. The Wildcats dropped their first non-conference game of the year to Louisville Wednesday night, 8-1. It also snapped a 36-game non-conference winning streak dating back to last season when the club won a share of the SEC regular season crown.
The Wildcats are a potent offensive ball club under John Cohen, as they lead the SEC with a .341 batting average with 323 runs scored in 33 games (9.8 runs per game).
Infielder Mike Brown leads the team with a .425 batting average to go along with 12 stolen bases in 13 attempts. Catcher Sean Coughlin is the top power source and run producer with six homers and 49 RBI to go along with a .371 batting average. Eight of the nine everyday starters are hitting above .315 heading into the weekend.
UK will throw southpaws Chris Rusin (3-2, 4.53 ERA) and Andrew Albers (5-0, 3.30 ERA) on Friday and Saturday and righthander Greg Dombrowski (4-1, 4.06 ERA) on Sunday. Righthander Aaron Lovett is the team’s relief ace with three saves and 17 strikeouts in 22.0 innings to go with a 3-1 record and 1.64 ERA.
The team sports a 3.92 ERA with 236 strikeouts and 99 walks in 293.2 innings pitched.
Price Approaching School Career Strikeout Record
With 10 strikeouts against Alabama last Friday, junior lefthander David Price now has 346 in his career. He enters Friday’s contest against Kentucky five strikeouts away from breaking Mike Willis’ school record of 350 set from 1969-72. Of note, Willis achieved the mark in four years at Vanderbilt, compared to Price in three. The fellow southpaw went on to a five year career in the major leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays (1977-81) and finished with a 7-21 record and 15 saves with a 4.59 ERA.
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt (30-5, 7-5 SEC) are 4-1 in its last five games and have won two of three in the last two SEC series (Alabama, South Carolina) … The Commodores were one out away from sweeping the Crimson Tide on Sunday, before UA rallied to tie the game in the ninth and win it in extra innings. The loss was the first for the Commodores when leading heading into the ninth (23-0 previously) … The pitching staff led the way this week with a 1.46 ERA in four games with 35 strikeouts and 22 walks in 37.0 innings. The Dores did not allow an earned run to Alabama through the first 19 innings of the series, before they broke through with a solo homer in the second inning on Sunday … Vanderbilt handed the Crimson Tide their first ever series loss to a No. 1 ranked team (six previous opportunities) … Junior David Price struck out 10 and pitched a three-hit shutout to lead Vanderbilt to a 3-0 win over Alabama Friday night. The win snapped a four game losing streak to the Crimson Tide. He is the only pitcher to toss a complete game shutout in Southeastern Conference action this season (143 other opportunities). It was the fourth complete game for Price this season (in nine starts) and his seventh double-digit strikeout game in his last eight starts. He is now 6-0 on the year with a 2.50 ERA and has 346 strikeouts in his career, four shy of the school record of 350 set by Mike Willis from 1969-72 … Mike Minor gave up two unearned runs in 5.1 innings against Alabama on Saturday to move to 5-0 on the year. He struck out three and walked two and now sports a team best 1.88 ERA and 1.17 ERA in SEC play … Offensively, VU hit .277 on the week with three homers and 14 runs scored (3.5 per game) … David Macias was 8-for-15 (.533) on the week, including a career best four hits in Wednesday’s win over Austin Peay … Matt Meingasner was 7-for-14 in four games, with all seven hits coming in the Alabama series … Dominic de la Osa came off the bench to deliver a game-tying RBI double in the ninth against Austin Peay last Wednesday. He served as the DH the whole weekend while recovering from a hamstring strain and hit two homers and a double against the Crimson Tide. He now has eight homers on the year, one short of his career high set last season … Brett Jacobson threw four innings of shutout baseball against Austin Peay on Wednesday … The four starting pitchers (Jacobson, Price, Minor, Christiani) allowed three runs, one earned, in 24.2 innings on the week … Nick Christiani gave up one run, a solo homer, on five hits with six strikeouts and a walk to Alabama on Sunday … After this weekend VU plays three of its final five conference series at Hawkins Field.
Commodore Outfielders Heating Up
As Vanderbilt heads into the stretch of SEC play, the team is being lead offensively by outfielders David Macias, Matt Meingasner and Dominic de la Osa. All three have been a factor offensively for the Commodores over the last few weeks. Macias has led the way going on a 11-for-20 tear (.550) with three doubles and three runs scored over the last five games. He had a career high four hits in the win over Austin Peay (4/4) and had three more hits in the win over Belmont (4/11). Matt Meingasner has hit .500 over the last five games (9-for-18) with two doubles and four RBI and is coming off his best weekend of SEC play in which he was 7-for-11 against Alabama. He has raised his average from a season low .282 after the Austin Peay contest to .337 heading into the weekend. Dominic de la Osa has hit two homers in the last three games and is now batting .350 entering the Kentucky series. After coming through with a pinch hit RBI single against Austin Peay (4/4), he served as the starting DH for the Alabama series and will be back in the outfield this weekend. De la Osa is 7-for-17 (.412) with two doubles, two homers and three RBI in his last five games.
Commodores Retain No. 1 National Ranking
With the series win over Alabama last weekend, Vanderbilt remained the No. 1 team in the country in four of the five major polls.
The Commodores have been ranked No. 1 in at least one of the polls in seven of the last eight weeks.
The Commodores at 30-5 are off to the best start in school history and the team’s 20-0 start was the best start of any sport at Vanderbilt. It bested the 17-0 start of the 1993 women’s basketball team. The team picked up its 30th win on Wednesday, marking the fourth straight year they have achieved the feat.
The No. 1 baseball ranking joins women’s basketball and women’s golf as the only NCAA sports to achieve a No. 1 ranking at Vanderbilt. The 1993 women’s hoops squad was ranked No. 1 by the AP for six weeks, including the final regular season poll prior to postseason play. The women’s golf team was ranked No. 1 for a time in 2004.
Commodores Rally Late To Defeat Belmont 7-6
David Macias scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead Vanderbilt to a 7-6 come from behind win over Belmont Wednesday night at Hawkins Field.
Vanderbilt rallied for its 17th come from behind victory and improved to 30-5 overall.
With the game tied at 6-6, Macias led off the ninth with a double down the right field line. Alex Feinberg then laid down a sacrifice bunt to second base, allowing Macias to move to third. Feinberg reached as well as the first baseman dropped the throw from second. Carlo Testa (3-2) then intentionally walked de la Osa before throwing a wild pitch to Ryan Flaherty with the bases loaded allowing Macias to score the game winner.
The Commodores trailed 6-4 going into the bottom of the eighth when Dominic de la Osa led off with a single to center. Ryan Flaherty grounded out, moving de la Osa to second and then Andrew Giobbi followed with a RBI triple to left to make it 6-5. Matt Meingasner then laced a RBI single to left to tie the game.
Jonathan White got the `Dores on the board in the second with a solo homer to right, his second of the year.
Ben Petsch’s RBI double in the third extended the lead to 3-1.
The Commodores rallied to tie the game with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Andrew Giobbi started things with a one out single to left and scored on a RBI double by Matt Meingasner to make it 3-2. Jonathan White’s sacrifice fly to right then tied the game.
Kane Simmons solo homer in the top of the sixth put the Bruins back on top 4-3. The Commodores rallied right back in the bottom half to tie the game when Dominic de la Osa singled, advanced to second on a fielding error and scored on a RBI single by Ryan Flaherty.
The Bruins got the lead back in the seventh when Ben Petsch spanked a two-run homer to left off Cameron Betourne to take a 6-4 lead.
Cody Crowell came on in the seventh and pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless, hitless relief. Stephen Shao recorded two outs in the ninth with Casey Weathers (6-2) recording the final out in the frame to pick up the win.
Shea Robin Named To Johnny Bench Watch List
The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission named junior catcher Shea Robin to the initial Johnny Bench Award Watch List.
Twenty-seven catchers from seventeen conferences were nominated for the award by their coaches. Because the award is given annually to the top division one collegiate catcher, the list will be updated to include other candidates until May 7, 2007.
Robin is one of four catchers from the Southeastern Conference to be on the list, joining Tennessee’s J.P. Arencibia, Mississippi State’s Edward Easley and LSU’s Robert Lara.
The Woodlands, Texas, native is hitting .293 on the season with a homer and 16 RBI. He is second on the team with a .314 batting average in 12 SEC games entering the weekend. The watch list will be narrowed down to ten semi-finalists, whom will be announced May 17, 2007.
Record Watch
With 11 homers this year, Pedro Alvarez is now in 10th place with 33. He needs three homers to move past Greg Smith into ninth place on the all-time list. Alvarez needs 16 more round-trippers to tie Scotty Madison’s mark of 49 set from 1977-80.
