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Vanderbilt Defeats Georgia, 6-0, in SEC Tournament First Round 5/26/2004
Vanderbilt Defeats Georgia, 6-0, in SEC Tournament First Round HOOVER, Ala. — Junior left-hander Jeremy Sowers threw a three-hit shutout leading the Vanderbilt Commodores to a 6-0 victory over Georgia in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Sowers was outstanding striking out 10 and walking no one. He totaled 109 pitches in the contest. “Quite a pitching performance from start to finish,” Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin said of Sowers outing. “He was about as good as I have seen him. He’s had a lot of good ones, but this one ranks right up there especially in the position we were in. Having to come in and win the first tournament game to stay in the winners bracket — it was a great start for us.” Sowers struck out four of the first eight batters he faced before Kyle Keen collected the first hit of the day for the Bulldogs. Only four Bulldogs reached base, including the three hits and one error. Keen collected two of Georgia’s three hits and was stranded on second in the third and picked off in the fifth. “We mixed up the pitches a lot,” commented Sowers. “My fastball had a lot of life to it and I was able to force some early ground balls. I had particularly good command today and our scouting reports (from Coach Derek Johnson) were right on the money. We did our research and it paid off.” The Commodores got on the board in the first inning with one run. Klosterman led off the game with a walk and stole second. After Antoan Richardson struck out, Klosterman moved to third on a ground out by Warner Jones. Klosterman scored when shortstop Justin Holmes’ throw to first baseman Josh Morris was short and bounced past Morris enabling Cesar Nicolas to advance to second. In the third inning, Douillard led off with a double to left center field. Klosterman grounded out and Richardson drew a walk. Jones then hit a RBI single to shallow center field scoring Douillard and moving Richardson to third. Nicolas then followed with a sacrifice fly to deep center field scoring Richardson. Baxter then hit a line drive to Josh Smith at third to retire the side with Vanderbilt leading 3-0. With one away in the third inning, Keen collected the first hit of the day for the Bulldogs when he hit a standup double down the right field line. Josh Smith then hit a line drive to Nicolas at first base for the second out and Holmes hit a fly out to Richardson in centerfield. Matt Woods began the fourth inning on the mound for the Bulldogs replacing starter Mitchell Boggs, who went 3.0 innings giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Vanderbilt added three runs in the fifth inning for a 6-0 lead. Douillard led off the inning with a walk and moved to third when Klosterman hit his 12th double of the season, a shot down the third base line. On a full count, Richardson hit a hard shot to second base and Marshall Szabo could not make the play scoring Douillard. Jones then hit a single to right on a hit-and-run scoring Klosterman and moving Richardson to third. Jones stole second and Nicolas struck out for the first out of the inning. Baxter then hit a RBI single to left center field on a 2-2 count scoring Richardson. Johnny Dobbs entered the game in relief of Woods with one Commodore out. Woods left the game going 1.1 innings giving up three runs (three earned) on four hits, striking out and walking one. Keen led off the sixth inning with a single to left field — his second hit of the game, but was then picked off at first by Sowers, his fifth pickoff of the season. Smith then struck out and Holmes popped up to centerfield. Clint Sammons began the eighth inning with a single down the third base line. His hit bounced off the bag and deflected off the official to VU’s Tony Mansolino who threw to Nicolas at first who tagged Sammons who made the turn to second. Sowers then recorded the putout on Bobby Felmy with an assist from Nicolas and struck out Adam McDaniel. Vanderbilt improves to 40-16, while Georgia is now 37-19. The Commodores are the third team in the SEC to win 40 games this season. LSU and South Carolina both entered the SEC Tournament with 41 wins. Sowers improves to 9-5, while Mitchell Boggs owns a 2-3 mark. Vanderbilt’s lead-off hitters reached base in six innings. The Commodores totaled 10 hits in the game led by Richardson, Jones and Douillard with two each. The Commodore win is the first SEC Tournament game win since 1995 when VU defeated Florida 4-2. Sowers’ 10 strikeouts and three hits allowed set a VU school record in an SEC Tournament game. Vanderbilt (the #7 seed) plays Florida Thursday at 5 pm in second round action. Florida, the #6 seed, defeated #3 LSU 5-4 in 10 innings. |
