May 31, 2007
For Live Stats and More — Visit NCAA Tournament Central | View Game Notes
No. 1 Seed Vanderbilt (51-11)
vs. No. 4 Seed Austin Peay (39-20)
Friday, June 1 – 7 p.m.
NCAA Tournament First Round
Hawkins Field (3,700)
Series History vs. Austin Peay:
Vanderbilt leads 43-18-2 all-time against the Governors. The teams are meeting for the first time in postseason play.
Season Meetings
April 1 Vanderbilt 4, Austin Peay 1 Clarksville
February 27 Vanderbilt 8, Austin Peay 0 Nashville
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 1 by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll, Rivals.com and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll. Austin Peay is not ranked.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 195-106 in his fifth season as head coach. He is 7-0 against Austin Peay. APSU’s Gary McClure is 600-544-4 in his 20th year in Clarksville.
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 Vanderbilt tournament games will be broadcast locally in Nashville on WNSR 560 AM. “Voice of the Commodores” Joe Fisher will call all of the action for Vanderbilt.
Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS) will televise all of the tournament games this weekend. Matt Stewart (Play-By-Play) and Rusty Ensor (Analysis) will call the action this weekend.
Check out vucommodores.com and its NCAA Tournament Central for live stats links, postgame video and a variety of information about and around the tourney.
What’s On Tap
No. 1 Vanderbilt hosts its first ever NCAA regional this weekend at Hawkins Field. The Commodores will take on No. 4 seed Austin Peay on Friday at 7 p.m. If the Commodores win, they will face the winner of the No. 2 seed Michigan/No. 3 seed Memphis contest on Saturday at 7 p.m. If VU loses, it will take on the loser of the above contest at 2 p.m. in an elimination game on Saturday. The regional sold out in less than 36 hours on Tuesday, with an expected crowd over 3,700 on hand, which would set new Hawkins Field attendance records.
Pulling Off The Trifecta
Like all schools, Vanderbilt has a set of goals and after last weekend the team has accomplished three of them. The Commodores won the SEC Eastern Division for the first time since 1974, the SEC regular season crown for the first time ever and most recently the SEC tournament title for the first time since 1980. The Commodores became the first team since Alabama in 1996 to win both the regular season and tournament titles. VU was the first team to win the tourney title since South Carolina achieved the feat in 2002 and was the first team ever to win five straight games out of the loser’s bracket to win the title.
Vanderbilt looks to add to the season of first’s this weekend at Hawkins Field.
Commodore NCAA Tournament History
Vanderbilt is making its sixth NCAA tournament appearance this weekend and will look to win its second regional championship in the last four years. The Dores are 8-10 all-time in NCAA play and made the field in 1973, 1974, 1980, 2004 and 2006.
Last season the Commodores 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 runner-up Texas in a Super Regional in Austin. Right-handed pitcher Tyler Rhoden (one inning in relief against Texas) is the lone member of the current active roster to have played in the 2004 postseason.
NCAA Tournament Results (8-10)
2006
Atlanta, Ga.
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.
June 4 Vanderbilt 7, George Mason 3
June 5 Vanderbilt 11, Princeton 1
June 6 Vanderbilt 7, Virginia 3
Super Regional – Austin, Texas
June 11 Texas 15, Vanderbilt 3
June 12 Texas 10, Vanderbilt 2
1980
Tallahassee, Fla.
May 22 Western Kentucky 15, Vanderbilt 4
May 23 New Orleans 8, Vanderbilt 2
(game completed on May 24 due to rain)
1974
Starkville, Miss.
May 23 Vanderbilt 2, East Carolina 1
May 24 Miami 7, Vanderbilt 1
May 25 Georgia Southern 5, Vanderbilt 3
1973
Starkville, Miss.
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 Austin Peay
Austin Peay is 39-20 and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA’s after winning the Ohio Valley Conference tournament over the weekend. Like Vanderbilt, they won their league regular season championship as well with a 19-8 league mark.
Third baseman Tyler Farrar leads the team with a .343 batting average, while first baseman Jake Lane and outfielder Will Hogue are the top power sources with eight homers each. APSU is hitting .297 as a team with 38 homers and 349 runs scored in 59 games (5.9 runs per game).
Ohio Valley Conference pitcher of the year Shawn Kelley (11-3, 2.52 ERA) will start against the Commodores. He is coming off a complete game victory over Samford in the OVC tournament. The Governors closer is Ben Wilshire who has nine saves and a 2.97 ERA with 14 strikeouts and 17 walks in 33.1 innings. APSU has a 3.61 team ERA with 325 strikeouts and 146 walks in 513.2 innings this year.
Scouting Michigan
Michigan is 39-16 overall and earned an at-large bid from the Big Ten conference. They were the regular season conference champions with a 21-7 league mark.
First baseman Nate Recknagel leads the team with a .360 batting average to go with 10 homers and 54 RBI. Designated hitter Zack Putnam is the top run producer with 58 RBIs and is also the ace of the pitching staff. As a team, the Wolverines are batting .336 with 45 homers and 410 runs scored in 55 games (7.5 runs per game).
Putnam (7-4, 3.78) will get the start against Memphis on Friday with Saturday’s starter to be determined. Michigan has a 4.29 team ERA with 350 strikeouts and 200 walks in 459.2 innings pitched.
Scouting Memphis
Memphis is 36-25 on the year and finished fourth in Conference USA with a 12-12 league record. The Tigers reached the semifinals of the C-USA tourney before falling to eventual champion Rice. They are making their first NCAA regional appearance since the 1994 season.
Shortstop Michael Murray leads the team with a .377 batting average to go along with 20 doubles and 34 RBI. Second baseman Bill Moss is the top power source with 14 homers and 52 RBI, while centerfielder K.K. Chalmers is a threat on the base paths with 33 stolen bases in 38 attempts. Memphis is batting .301 as a team with 59 homers and 417 runs scored in 61 games (6.8 runs per game).
Righthander Scott McGregor (5-3, 6.45 ERA) will start on Friday against Michigan, with righty Ben Grisham (4-3, 5.68 ERA) slated to go on Saturday. Righthander Matt Yokley is the team’s relief ace with nine saves to go with a 4-2 record, 2.40 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 45.0 innings. The Tigers have a 5.68 team ERA with 343 strikeouts and 225 walks in 528.0 innings this year.
Commodores Hold No. 1 In National Ranking For Ninth Straight Week
With a 5-1 record and SEC tournament title last week, Vanderbilt remained the No. 1 team in the country in the five polls this week.
Baseball America, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the ESPN/Sports Weekly Coaches Poll all had the Commodores ranked No. 1 for the ninth straight week, while Collegiate Baseball put VU on top in its poll for the fourth straight week. Rivals.com put the Dores on top for the third straight week.
The Commodores have been ranked No. 1 in at least one of the polls in 14 of the last 15 weeks.
The Commodores at 51-11 are having the best year 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 51 wins (45 in 2004) are the most ever for a VU squad and the 22 wins in SEC play is also a school record, besting the 16 win years in 2004 and 2006.
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.
Price Named National Co-Player of the Year
Junior southpaw David Price was named Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Year as the publication released its All-American teams on Wednesday.
Price shared the award with Tony Thomas of Florida State and was also named a first-team All-American. Senior right-hander Casey Weathers and junior outfielder Dominic de la Osa also garnered first-team plaudits.
Pedro Alvarez rounded out the Vanderbilt contingent, earning second-team honors.
Price was a Freshman All-American in 2005 and was a third team selection a year ago. He has had one of the best seasons on the mound this year and enters NCAA tournament play with an 11-0 record an 2.71 ERA. The Murfreesboro product leads all of Division I with 175 strikeouts (school single season record) and only has 29 walks in 123.0 innings.
De la Osa is also having the best year of his career with a .386 batting average with 19 homers and 60 RBI (all career bests). He was an All-SEC pick by the coaches and also was an all-tournament pick after hitting two homers with eight RBI in six games last week.
Weathers is 11-2 on the year with a 2.64 ERA and is one of three players nationally to lead his team in wins and saves. The California native was also a first team All-SEC selection and has 67 strikeouts with 18 walks in 44.1 innings.
Alvarez, the National Freshman of the Year in 2006, picked up where he left off a year ago and currently leads the team with a .397 batting average to go with 17 homers and 65 RBI. The batting average and homer total are career bests and his 39 career homers are the eighth most all-time in Vanderbilt. The New York City native was recently named to the USA National Team for the second straight year and is in contention for the Golden Spikes Award along with Price. He was a first team All-SEC pick and was named the MVP of the conference tournament last week.
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt is the first ever team from the SEC to gain the No. 1 national seed since the NCAA went to this format in 1999 … VU became the first SEC team since Alabama in 1996 to win both the regular season and tournament crown … The Commodores were the first team to lose the first game of the tournament and win five straight to capture the title since it has been in the current format … The 51 wins heading into NCAA play is the most in the nation this season … The Commodores are making their sixth NCAA appearance and are hosting a regional for the first time in school history … The trio of David Price (11-0), Casey Weathers (11-2) and Mike Minor (9-1) have combined for 31 of the team’s 51 wins this season … The Commodores have 30 come from behind wins this season … Pedro Alvarez was named the SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player after going 13-for-24 (.542) with three doubles, two homers and eight RBI in the tournament … VU got career performances from Jason Cunningham and Tyler Rhoden at the SEC tourney. Cunningham threw a career high 4.2 innings of two-hit scoreless relief with two strikeouts and three walks in the night cap win over Ole Miss on Saturday, while Rhoden tied a career best 6.2 innings of work in the winning effort in the start against Arkansas in the championship game …The win over Arkansas put the season series at 2-2. The team has not lost a season series all-year now.
Nashville Regional A Sellout
Vanderbilt officials have announced that the NCAA baseball regional this weekend at Hawkins Field is officially sold out.
The last of the 3,700 tickets were sold online early this morning. Hawkins Field seats a little over 2,000 in its current configuration and 1,500 bleacher seats were added last week as well as 200 standing-room-only tickets in the patio area in left field.
If the Commodores win the regional they will then host the Super Regionals next weekend at Hawkins Field. For possible ticket info on the Super Regional call (615) 322-GOLD.
