May 19, 2008
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No. 6 Seed Vanderbilt (37-18, 15-14 SEC)
vs. No. 3 Seed Florida (34-20, 17-13 SEC)
Wednesday, May 21 – 1 p.m. CT
Regions Park (10,800) – Hoover, Ala.
SEC Tournament First Round
Series History
Florida leads 116-58-1 all-time. Vanderbilt swept the series in 2007 in Nashville, with the Gators returning the favor last week.VU is 5-0 all-time against UF at the SEC Tournament
2008 Results
May 15, 2008: Florida 8, Vanderbilt 6 (Gainesville)
May 16, 2008: Florida 5, Vanderbilt 4 (Gainesville)
May 17, 2008: Florida 13, Vanderbilt 12 (11) (Gainesville)
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 21 in the ESPN/Sports Weekly Coaches Poll and by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. For the first time since the end of the 2006 season, VU is not ranked in any of the other polls. Florida is not ranked this week.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 235-126 in his sixth season as head coach. He is 10-10 against the Gators all-time. UF’s Kevin O’Sullivan is 34-20 in his first season in Gainesville. He is 3-0 against the Commodores.
Radio/TV/Internet
All of Vanderbilt’s games at the Southeastern Conference tournament will be broadcast on WNSR 560 AM in Nashville. In addition you can catch the internet version of the broadcast via www.vucommodores.com. “Voice of the Commodores” Joe Fisher will call all the action this week. Wednesday’s contest will also be carried on XM Satellite Radio on Channel 199. The game will be televised by CSS in High Definition format. Matt Stewart (play-by-play) and Rusty Ensor (analysis) will provide commentary. Live stats can also be accessed through vucommodores.com.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt and Florida will match up for the fourth straight game in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament Wednesday at 1 p.m. CT at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala. The Gators got the best of the Commodores in Gainesville last weekend, sweeping all three games to capture the No. 3 seed in the tournament. VU dropped from the No. 3 seed to No. 6. The winner of the contest will play the winner of the No. 7 seed South Carolina- No. 2 seed LSU matchup on Thursday at 5 p.m. The losers of the two games will play each other Thursday morning at 10 a.m. in an elimination game.
Scouting Florida
Florida is 34-20 overall and 17-13 in SEC play after sweeping three games from the Commodores last weekend in Gainesville.
Junior left fielder Avery Barnes leads the team with a .382 batting average and is a threat on the bases with 25 stolen bases in 28 attempts.
Freshman infielder Josh Adams is one of the top power producers with eight homers, 17 doubles and 51 RBI in 53 games with a .343 batting average. Sophomore shortstop Cole Figueroa, a Freshman All-American a year ago, is hitting .343 with nine homers, 12 doubles and 55 RBI in 54 starts on the year.
As a team Florida is hitting .307 with 58 homers and 391 runs scored in 54 games (7.2 runs per game).
O’Sullivan has retooled a pitching staff that sported an SEC worst 5.25 ERA last year into one that has a 4.03 ERA (fourth in the conference) heading into the tourney. Junior right-hander Patrick Keating (8-0, 3.15 ERA) will carry his undefeated record into Wednesday’s start. The staff has recorded 295 strikeouts with 173 walks in 473.1 innings.
Probable Starter
No. R/L Player W-L ERA Last Appearance W-L IP H R ER BB SO
27 R Patrick Keating 8-0 3.15 vs. Vanderbilt (5/17) ND 2.0 2 4 0 1 1
Defending SEC Tournament Crown
Vanderbilt has had success in Hoover, reaching the finals the last three times the team has advanced into the postseason, including winning last year’s title against Arkansas. VU lost its first game against Tennessee before storming back for five straight wins to capture the crown. In doing so, it became the first team since Alabama in 1996 to win both the regular season and conference tourney trophies.
The Commodores are making their fifth SEC postseason appearance in six years under Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin. Prior to last year’s title, the Commodores lone tourney win came in 1980. VU is 24-20 overall in 12 previous appearances.
SEC Tournament History Under Corbin (11-6)
2007- Champion
Tennessee 6, Vanderbilt 4
Vanderbilt 3, Mississippi State 2
Vanderbilt 15, Tennessee 2
Vanderbilt 13, Ole Miss 1 (8)
Vanderbilt 7, Ole Miss 6 (10)
Vanderbilt 7, Arkansas 4 (Championship)
2006 – Runner-up
Vanderbilt 9, Georgia 4
Vanderbilt 11, South Carolina 1 (7)
Georgia 5, Vanderbilt 4
Vanderbilt 11, Georgia 1 (7)
Ole Miss 9, Vanderbilt 3 (runner-up)
2004 – Runner-up
Vanderbilt 6, Georgia 0
Vanderbilt 3, Florida 0
Vanderbilt 6, Florida 5 (12)
South Carolina 3, Vanderbilt 2 (runner-up)
2003
Auburn 3, Vanderbilt 1
South Carolina 3, Vanderbilt 2
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt was swept at Florida to finish the regular season on a five-game losing streak, the longest losing streak since 2006 and the team’s longest in SEC play since 2003 … The Commodores led in all three games this weekend and had a lead in the eighth inning in two of them. On Saturday, May 10 the Commodores were one out away from defeating Georgia 2-1 and moving to 16-9 on the year, one game behind the Bulldogs in the SEC standings. Including losing that game in extra innings, VU lost three straight two-run games and two one-run games in the skein. Vanderbilt went from the second best record in the league to the sixth best … Despite losing the first two games to the Gators, VU could have still claimed the three seed in the SEC tourney with a win on Saturday, but failed to do so dropping down to the sixth seed … The Commodores made the tournament by virtue of South Carolina and Arkansas losses on Thursday. It marks the third straight tourney appearance and the fifth in sixth seasons under Tim Corbin. VU has reached the championship game the last three times in Hoover (2004, 2006-2007) and won the title last year battling out of the loser’s bracket going 5-1 … Pedro Alvarez continues to carry a hot-stick, going 6-for-12 with four doubles, a homer, three RBI and five runs scored … Alex Feinberg was fitted with a new smaller faceplate for his helmet to protect his broken jaw and he responded with a 5-for-13 (.385) week with two doubles and two RBI … The Commodores hit .296 as a team with four homers and 22 runs scored in the three-game set … Pitching was the downfall this weekend as the staff sported a 8.78 ERA and was pounded for 38 hits in 26.2 innings (.336) with six doubles, a triple and eight homers given up … Mark Lamm pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless relief on Friday and Chase Reid pitched 0.2 innings of scoreless relief on Thursday. The duo were the only two of nine pitchers used to not allow a run … Defensively the Commodores made just one error on the weekend in 111 chances (.991 fielding percentage) … UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan is in his first year in Gainesville after spending nine seasons as an assistant coach at Clemson. O’Sullivan and Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin spent four seasons (1999-2002) as assistants under head coach Jack Leggett and made two College World Series appearances and four Super Regionals in that span.
De La Osa Becomes Vanderbilt’s All-Time Hits and Doubles Leader.
On Sunday, May 4, senior outfielder Dominic de la Osa became Vanderbilt’s all-time hits leader with his second hit in the Commodores 10-8 win over Tennessee. He broke Karl Nonemaker’s record of 283 hits set from 1999-2002 and has 293 hits entering the tournament. The hit, a double, also gave de la Osa the career record in doubles at VU as well with 62, besting Sean Luellwitz’ record of 61 also set from 1999-02. He currently has 63.
Coming into the season de la Osa was the lone active Commodore in the 200 hit club. Alex Feinberg, Ryan Flaherty, David Macias and Pedro Alvarez have joined him on the exclusive list. Feinberg has 257 in his four years and is currently fifth, while Flaherty has 252 in just his third year, good for seventh best in school history. Macias has 246 hits in his career (10th), while Alvarez, who missed 23 games this year, joined the club against Auburn and now has 229 (13th). Another Commodore is within site of the exclusive group, as senior Shea Robin is just six hits away with 194.
Mike Minor Invited To USA National Team Trials
USA Baseball announced on May 8 its initial list of 12 collegiate players who have accepted invitations for the 2008 National Team Trials to be held June 11-23 throughout the northeast and southeast United States. Vanderbilt sophomore left-hander Mike Minor was invited back to compete for a second tour of duty as he competed on the 2007 club that captured a silver medal at the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The list is comprised of eight sophomores and four freshmen. In all, 32 players will be invited to the National Team Trials, with 22 of those players being selected for the National Team roster.
Minor posted a 5-2 record and a 1.64 ERA in nine appearances with the National Team last year. He recorded 37 strikeouts against only four walks over 33 innings. Minor is 5-3 for Vanderbilt this season, logging 82 strikeouts in 78 2/3 innings. The Chapel Hill, Tenn., native ended up as the team’s ace by the time the season ended.
USA Baseball’s 2008 National Team schedule includes a six-game friendship series against Chinese Taipei and a month-long trip to Europe where the team will compete in Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands and in the IV FISU World Collegiate Baseball Championship in the Czech Republic.
Minor is 5-3 this season with a 4.20 ERA in 13 starts. His 90.0 innings pitched leads the team as well as the SEC and he is fourth in the league in strikeouts with 91.
The Commodores have been well represented on the National Team over the last three years with three players on the 2006 and 2007 clubs. Recent Vanderbilt players on the teams include David Price (2005-06), Casey Weathers (2006), Pedro Alvarez (2006-07), Ryan Flaherty (2007) and Mike Minor (2007-08). Head coach Tim Corbin coached the 2006 team to a gold medal at the World University Championships in Cuba.
Alvarez and de la Osa Approaching School Homer Record
Pedro Alvarez and Dominic de la Osa are within reach of the school’s career home-run record. Alvarez missed 23 games and has hit seven homers since his return at the start of April to up his career total to 47, tied for second best in school history. De la Osa has 10 homers on the year, putting him right behind Alvarez with 46. Alvarez needs two more round-trippers and de la Osa needs three to tie Scotti Madison’s mark of 49 set from 1977-80.
