March 15, 2007
TENTATIVE WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
Friday, March 15 at 7 p.m. CT: David Price (4-0, 2.52 ERA) vs. Will Kline (3-0, 1.87) | Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
Saturday, March 16 at 2 p.m. CT: Nick Christiani (4-0, 2.05 ERA) vs. Lance Lynn (1-2, 2.67) | Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
Sunday, March 17 at 1 p.m. CT: Brett Jacobson (4-0, 2.33 ERA) vs. Brett Bukvich (3-1, 2.10) | Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
No. 1 Vanderbilt (19-0, 0-0 SEC)
vs. No. 14 Ole Miss (14-5, 0-0 SEC)
Friday, March 16 – 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 17 – 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 18 – 1 p.m.
Hawkins Field (2,027)
Series History
vs. Ole Miss: Ole Miss leads 52-43 all-time in a series that dates back to 1900.
Last Year
May 28, 2006 Ole Miss 9, Vanderbilt 3 (SEC Tourney Championship) Hoover, Ala.
March 18, 2006 Vanderbilt 5, Ole Miss 0 (Gm 2) Oxford
March 18, 2006 Ole Miss 5, Vanderbilt 1 (Gm 1) Oxford
March 17, 2006 Vanderbilt 7, Ole Miss 6 Oxford
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball, the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll and by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers. The Commodores are ranked No. 2 in Baseball America and by Rivals.com.
Mississippi is ranked No. 14 by Collegiate Baseball. They are 15th by the NCBWA, 19th by the Coaches Poll and 25th in Baseball America.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 163-95 in his fifth season as head coach. He is 5-8 against Mississippi. Ole Miss’ Mike Bianco is 256-136-1 in his seventh year in Oxford and is 356-208-1 in his 10th season overall. He is 13-6 against the Commodores.
Radio/TV/Internet
All of the 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. Eric Jones will call all of the action for the Commodores heading into SEC play. In addition, the series will be broadcast locally in Nashville as well on WNSR 560 AM. The games will also be webcast and can be watched for free via www.vucommodores.com. Live stats via Gametracker can also be accessed through the website.
Ticket Info
Season tickets are sold out, but fans can join the newly created On-Deck Circle, which offers priority ticket waiting and other special benefits (for more info click on vucommodores.com). General admission tickets will be made available for $5 once reserved tickets are sold out on the day of the game.
What’s On Tap
No. 1 Vanderbilt opens Southeastern Conference play this weekend as Ole Miss comes to town for a three-game series. Friday’s game is set for a 7 p.m. start, while Saturday’s game is at 2 p.m. and Sunday’s finale is at 1 p.m. Season tickets are sold out as are single game reserved tickets for Friday and Saturday. General admission tickets will be made available on game day for $5.
Scouting Ole Miss
Ole Miss is 14-5 on the year after taking two of three against UCLA in Oxford last weekend. The team wrapped out a season high 21 hits in a 14-1 win over Arkansas State on Tuesday.
Junior second baseman Justin Henry leads the team with a .451 batting average and seven stolen bases in nine attempts. His brother Jordan, a freshman outfielder, is right behind him with a .389 average while infielders Andrew Clark and Cody Overbeck are the top power sources with three homers each. As a team Ole Miss is hitting .323 with 13 homers and 104 runs scored in 19 games (5.5 per game).
Junior right-hander Will Kline (3-0, 1.87 ERA) will get the start on Friday night for Mississippi.
Sophomore right-hander Lance Lynn (1-2, 2.67 ERA) will take the hill on Saturday, while sophomore southpaw Brett Bukvich (3-1, 2.10 ERA) is expected to start in Sunday’s finale. Juco transfer Scott Bittle (1-1, 0.75) is the closer and leads the SEC with six saves in 10 appearances on the year. The sophomore right-hander has 24 strikeouts and only four walks in 12 innings pitched.
As a team, Ole Miss sports a 2.33 ERA with 180 strikeouts and 54 walks in 166.0 innings. Of Note: Junior shortstop Zack Cozart, a native of Collierville, Tenn., was a member of the US National Team over the summer coached by Tim Corbin … The teams last met in the SEC tournament championship game a year ago with the Commodores falling short by a 9-3 count.
Commodores Remain No. 1 For Fourth Straight Week, Off To Best Start Ever
Vanderbilt remained No. 1 in three polls this week Collegiate Baseball, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. Baseball America and Rivals.com had VU at No. 2 for the second straight week.
The Commodores at 19-0 are off to the best start of any sport in school history, besting the 17-0 start of the 1993 women’s basketball team. The 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 Picks Up Third National Pitcher of the Week Honor
For the second straight week, junior lefthander David Price was named one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players of the Week, this time after his 16-strikeout performance against Illinois-Chicago last Friday. It is the third time this season and sixth time in his career the Murfreesboro native has won the national honor. In addition he picked up SEC Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time this year and sixth time in his career. Price struck out 16 in a four-hit complete game effort in a 2-1 win over Illinois-Chicago last Friday. He gave up a solo homer in the second, and then retired the next 12 batters, seven via strikeout. After giving up his only walk in the sixth, Price then retired the next seven in order, five by strikeout. Two of the four hits were infield singles in the ninth. He also earned College Baseball Foundation’s Weekly Honor Roll plaudits for the third time.
Matt Meingasner Leads Vanderbilt To 15-7 Win Over Belmont
Matt Meingasner had four hits and six RBI to lead Vanderbilt to a 15-7 win over Belmont Wednesday afternoon at Greer Stadium.
Vanderbilt led 9-2 in the fifth before Belmont scored the next five runs in the game, capped off by a three-run homer by Derek Wiley in the seventh to cut the lead to 9-7.
The Commodores then responded with six runs in the top of the eighth to put the game away. David Macias and Dominic de la Osa had back-to-back walks with two outs and scored on a RBI double by Pedro Alvarez to make it 11-7. Ryan Flaherty walked and both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Shea Robin brought them in with a single up the middle. Andrew Giobbi was hit by a pitch and both runners advanced again on a wild pitch before Meingasner came through with a two-run single to center to make it 15-7.
Meingasner staked VU to a 2-0 lead in the second with a homer to left, his second circuit clout of the year. Belmont rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the second on a RBI single by Brandon McCall and a RBI groundout by Brady Manifold. Dominic de la Osa got the lead back in the third with a solo homer to left, his fourth of the year.
VU added three more runs in the fourth as Shea Robin, Andrew Giobbi, Matt Meingasner and Alex Feinberg started the inning off with consecutive singles. Brad French reached on a hit by pitch with the bases loaded and David Macias added a groundout RBI to make it 6-2.
The Dores added three more in the fifth to make it 9-2. Meingasner had a RBI single and Brad French added a two-run double to key the inning.
Shea Robin had three hits and Alex Feinberg had two to help lead the way.
Cody Crowell (1-0) pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts to pick up his first win of the year. Mike Minor gave up two runs on four hits in four innings in the start with one strikeout and two walks.
David Macias, Brian Harris, Pedro Alvarez, Ryan Flaherty and Shea Robin each had two hits on the day.
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt’s 19-0 start is the best start of any VU sport in school history, besting the 17-0 start of the 1993 women’s basketball team … The Commodores won the regular season series last year for the second straight year against Ole Miss, prior to that OM had won seven straight series dating back to 1997 … Andrew Giobbi has a nine-game hitting streak going into the series, the longest on the team … Clutch hitting has been the trademark this season as the team has 69 two-out RBIs (out of a possible 140), including eight in the 15-7 win over Belmont on Wednesday … All four Vanderbilt starting pitchers have ERAs under 2.60 and are a combined 14-0 … Shea Robin has thrown out seven of 12 base runners on the season … With 16 strikeouts last week David Price became only the third pitcher in VU history to break the 300 strikeout mark in their careers. Mike Willis struck out 350 in four seasons from 1969-72, Jeremy Sowers struck out 327 in his three years from 2002-04 … Last week, the team sported a 2.00 ERA this week with 44 strikeouts and nine walks in 36 innings … Offensively the squad hit .326 with 12 doubles, a triple, two homers and 12 runs scored in the four games … VU starters picked up all four wins on the week … Freshman Mike Minor gave up two runs in 5.2 innings against Western Kentucky, David Price pitched a complete game, allowing a run with 16 strikeouts against Illinois-Chicago, Nick Christiani pitched 7.1 shutout innings against UIC on Saturday, and Brett Jacobson allowed a run in six innings of work on Sunday … Casey Weathers, Ty Davis, Stephen Shao and Tyler Rhoden did not allow an earned run in six innings of relief work … Alex Feinberg got back on track at the plate, as his average jumped from .286 at the start of the week to .349 entering the weekend. He was 6-for-11 (.545) with three doubles and three runs scored last week … Shea Robin raised his average from .250 to .302 after going 5-for-14 with two doubles and four RBI last week and recording three hits on Wednesday … David Macias went 6-for-16 (.375) with two RBI … Dominic de la Osa was 5-for-13 (.385) with a homer and two RBI … Junior Adam Cronk belted his first career homer in Sunday’s 14-5 win … The Commodores recorded a season high 18 hits in Sunday’s game … UIC’s six runs on the weekend all came via homer, two solo shots and a grand-slam … Vanderbilt has come from behind in 10 of 19 games.
Record Watch
Two Vanderbilt records worth watching this season are the school’s career strikeout mark and the career homer mark. With 16 strikeouts against Illinois-Chicago last Friday, David Price vaulted into third place on the career list with 304. He trails record holder Mike Willis by 46 strikeouts and second place Jeremy Sowers by 23. With seven homers this year, Pedro Alvarez moved into a tie with Jeff Martin for 10th on the homer list with 29.
Broadcast Info
Nearly every Vanderbilt home game will be available to watch for free online through All-Access. In addition, all 56 regular season games will be broadcast via the Internet through Yahoo. For more information on that you can visit www.vucommodores.com. This season, ISP has joined forces with baseball flagship WNSR 560 AM to broadcast 44 regular season contests. Eric Jones will handle the play-by-play to start the season before handing off to Voice of the Commodores Joe Fisher once the men’s basketball season concludes. Seven Commodore games are currently scheduled to be televised this year. College Sports Southeast will broadcast five games, the April 21st game against Tennessee at 6 p.m., the April 29th game against Florida at 1 p.m., the May 6th game against Georgia at 1 p.m., and the May 18th and 19th games against LSU at 7 p.m. and noon CT respectively. Fox Sports South will broadcast the South Carolina game on March 31 at 3 p.m. The Sun Network will show the Florida contest on April 28 at 3 p.m.