May 29, 2008
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VIEW COMPLETE GAME NOTES FOR NCAA REGIONAL
No. 2 Seed Vanderbilt (40-20, 15-14 SEC) vs.
No. 3 Seed Oklahoma (34-24-1, 9-17-1 Big 12)
Friday, May 30 – 4 p.m. CT
Packard Stadium (3,879)
NCAA Tournament – Tempe Regional
Series History
The teams have met just twice on the baseball diamond, with the Commodores coming away with two victories.
All-Time Results
3/24/78: Vanderbilt 8, Oklahoma 7 (Nashville)
02/21/1999: Vanderbilt 7, Oklahoma 2 (Houston Tournament)
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 21 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, No. 22 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 24 by Collegiate Baseball.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 238-128 in his sixth season as head coach. Friday will be the first meeting against OU. OU’s Sunny Gallowaay is 125-76-1 in his fourth year in Norman and is 460-231-1 in 12 years overall. He has not faced the Commodores as a head coach.
Radio/TV/Internet
All of Vanderbilt’s games at the NCAA tournament will be broadcast on WNSR 560 AM in Nashville. A webcast of the Commodores games in the tournament is scheduled to be available for free on www.vucommodores.com. 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 weekend. Live stats can also be accessed through ncaasports.com.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt takes on Oklahoma in the first game of the NCAA Tempe Regional Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. CT at Packard Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. With a win, the No. 2 seed Commodores would face the winner of the No. 1 seed Arizona State vs. No. 4 seed Stony Brook contest on Saturday at 9 p.m. CT. A loss to the Sooners would pair VU with the loser of the ASU/Stony Brook game on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT.
NCAA Tournament History
Vanderbilt is making its seventh NCAA tournament appearance this weekend and will look to win its second regional championship under Tim Corbin. The Dores are 11-12 all-time in NCAA play and have made the field a school record three straight time.
Last season the Commodores hosted for the first-time in school history as the No. 1 National Seed. VU made the regional championship game for the second straight year, but lost to Michigan.
In 2006, the Dores advanced to the championship round of the NCAA Atlanta Regional before falling to host and eventual College World Series team Georgia Tech.
In 2004, VU swept three games at the Charlottesville, Va. Regional, before falling to eventual NCAA runner-up Texas in a Super Regional in Austin.
NCAA Tournament Results (11-12)
2007 Nashville, Tenn. (Host Vanderbilt)
June 1 Vanderbilt 2, Austin Peay 1 (11)
June 2 Michigan 4, Vanderbilt 3
June 3 Vanderbilt 11, Austin Peay 5
June 3 Vanderbilt 10, Michigan 7
June 4 Michigan 4, Vanderbilt 3 (10)
2006 Atlanta, Ga. (Host Georgia Tech)
June 2 Vanderbilt 5, Michigan 2
June 3 Georgia Tech 7, Vanderbilt 3
June 4 Vanderbilt 5, Michigan 4
June 4 Georgia Tech 8, Vanderbilt 4
2004 Charlottesville, Va. (Host Virginia)
June 4 Vanderbilt 7, George Mason 3
June 5 Vanderbilt 11, Princeton 1
June 6 Vanderbilt 7, Virginia 3
2004 Super Regional – Austin, Texas
June 11 Texas 15, Vanderbilt 3
June 12 Texas 10, Vanderbilt 2
1980 Tallahassee, Fla. (Host Florida State)
May 22 Western Kentucky 15, Vanderbilt 4
May 23 New Orleans 8, Vanderbilt 2 (game completed on May 24/rain)
1974 Starkville, Miss. (Host Mississippi State)
May 23 Vanderbilt 2, East Carolina 1
May 24 Miami 7, Vanderbilt 1
May 25 Georgia Southern 5, Vanderbilt 3
1973 Starkville, Miss. (Host Mississippi State)
May 24 Vanderbilt 6, Georgia Southern 2
May 26 Vanderbilt 4, North Carolina State 2
May 26 Georgia Southern 5, Vanderbilt 2
May 28 Miami 6, Vanderbilt 5
Scouting Oklahoma (No. 3 Seed)
Oklahoma is 34-21-1 and finished the regular season in eighth place in the Big 12 with a 9-17-1 mark. The Sooners went 2-1 in the conference tourney with wins over Texas A&M and Missouri and a loss to title winner Texas.
Senior second baseman Mike Gosse leads the Sooners offensively with a .359 batting average with seven homers and 48 RBI. As a team OU is hitting .314 with 50 homers and 416 runs scored in 59 games (7 per game).
Sophomore right-hander Andrew Doyle is the ace of the Oklahoma staff with an 8-4 record and 4.35 ERA. He has 70 strikeouts in 93.0 innings pitched to lead the club in both categories. Senior right-hander Jake McCarter, a transfer from Alabama, leads the relief corp with nine saves, while sporting a 2-0 record and 7.09 ERA.
As a staff, OU has a 4.93 ERA with 407 strikeouts and 217 walks in 521.2 innings.
Oklahoma’s Friday starter is still to be determined.
Scouting Arizona State (No. 1 Seed/No. 3 Seed Nationally)
Arizona State is 45-11 overall and the Pac-10 champions with a 16-8 league record. The Sun Devils are a force at home, posting a 35-3 mark at Packard Stadium. They are the No. 3 National Seed in the NCAA field.
ASU’s offense is among the nation’s elite, led by junior All-American Brett Wallace. He is hitting .412 with 20 homers and 78 RBI while also stealing 14 bases in 18 attempts. Junior utility man Ike Davis also carries a big stick, hitting .378 with 16 homers and 68 RBI, and also has a 4-1 record and 2.66 ERA in 13 relief appearances on the mound.
As a unit, Arizona State is hitting .339 (fifth in the country) with 79 homers and 538 runs scored in 56 games (9.8 per game- third nationally).
Sophomore right-hander Mike Leake is the ace of the pitching staff with a 9-2 record and 3.18 ERA. He has 94 strikeouts and just 16 walks in 104.2 innings with two complete games this year. Senior southpaw Josh Satow is the No. 2 man in the ASU rotation with an 8-3 record and 4.99 ERA. He has 66 strikeouts and 44 walks in 83 innings.
Senior right-hander Tommy Rafferty is the team’s relief specialist with an 11-0 ledger and 3.66 ERA in 31 relief appearances. He is tied for the team lead with Ike Davis in saves with four, while also striking out 61 batters in 64 innings pitched.
Arizona State’s team ERA is 4.58 with 455 strikeouts and 194 walks in 497.1 innings pitched.
Scouting Stony Brook (No. 4 Seed)
Stony Brook is 34-24 on the year and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney after winning the America East Conference tournament last weekend. The Seawolves beat Binghamton 6-0 in the championship game after finishing the regular season second in the conference with a 14-10 mark.
Junior leftfielder Steven Mazzurco leads the team with a .368 batting average, while sophomore designated hitter/catcher Michael Stephan is the top power source with 11 homers and 36 RBI.
As a team SBU is hitting .289 with 42 homers and 350 runs scored in 58 games (6 per game).
Senior right-hander Tom Koehler is the ace of the staff with a 6-4 record and 3.60 ERA. He has 107 strikeouts and 39 walks in 90 innings pitched.
The Seawolves have two relief specialists in sophomore righties Jordan Purington and Jeremy Novak. Purington is 3-3 with a 3.83 ERA in 28 appearances and has seven saves, while Novak is 7-2 with a 4.07 ERA in 19 appearances, including seven starts, and has seven saves.
As a staff, Stony Brook sports a 4.93 ERA with 398 strikeouts and 206 walks in 478 innings pitched.
Alvarez and de la Osa Approaching School Homer Record
Junior Pedro Alvarez hit his 49th career homer against Ole Miss in the second semifinal game at the Southeastern Conference tournament last Saturday, tying him with Scotti Madison for the school’s career mark. Alvarez hit two homers in the tourney and has achieved the feat in three seasons. He missed 23 games this year and has nine homers, one shy of reaching double digits for the third straight season.
Senior Dominic de la Osa has hit 10 homers this year and is in fourth place on the school’s career list with 46. In addition, de la Osa is the school’s all-time hits and doubles leader. Read below for more info.
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 298 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 261 in his four years and is currently fifth, while Flaherty has 260 in just his third year, good for sixth best in school history. Macias has 251 hits in his career (eighth), while Alvarez, who missed 23 games this year, joined the club against Auburn and now has 232 (12th). Another Commodore is within reach of the exclusive group, as senior Shea Robin is just three hits away with 197.
Commodore Tidbits
The Commodores have seven players who have started in nine NCAA tourney contests … VU has won the opening round game of the NCAA tourney five out of the six previous visits including the last three times (2004, 2006-07) … The Portland, Maine duo of junior shortstop Ryan Flaherty and redshirt sophomore Andrew Giobbi were named to the SEC All-Tournament team on Sunday. Flaherty, a Golden Spikes award semifinalist, led the Dores in the five games, hitting .400 (8-for-20) with a homer and five RBI. Giobbi shared first base honors after hitting 8-for-21 (.381) with a homer and five RBI … Redshirt freshman Steven Liddle also had a fine tourney hitting .389 (7-for-18) with two doubles and four runs scored.