April 21, 2007
Vandy Shows its Mettle in Win Over Tennessee
Feature Story By Will Matthews
Game Recap Plus Audio: Vanderbilt 3 Tennessee 1
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NASHVILLE – For anyone concerned about the sky beginning to fall after No. 1 Vanderbilt dropped consecutive games this week to unheralded mid-state foes Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee State, staff ace David Price offered an unequivocal retort Friday night.
Everything is under control.
Price pitched brilliantly for eight plus innings, giving up just a run on five hits while striking out 14 while the Commodores showed the kind of fortitude that marks championship-caliber teams in bouncing back to take the first game of a three-game series with rival Tennessee 3-1.
“It was an important win,” Price said. “We haven’t dropped two in a row all year and we dropped two midweek games but then we come out and win Friday against a good UT opponent. I think that is very good.”
Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin was adamant entering Friday’s game that this week’s two losses – the first all year for Vanderbilt against non-conference opponents – were squarely in the rear view mirror and that they would have no bearing on this weekend’s key Southeastern Conference series.
But Corbin couldn’t deny following the game that a third straight loss Friday might well have raised some eyebrows.
“If you drop it then you start to maybe think, okay, what are we, what type of team are we,” Corbin said. “But I think we have a good team. We might not be overly talented, but we have got pretty good pitching and we are pretty good with Price on the mound, I’ll tell you that.”
After a 2006 season in which Price began scuffling about midway through the SEC schedule and ultimately was dropped from the No. 1 spot in the rotation, Corbin has talked all year about his ace’s maturation into the kind of pitcher who now can consistently set the tone for Vanderbilt in his Friday night starts.
In a game in which Vanderbilt was in desperate need of a strong outing from its starting pitcher to help turn the team’s momentum in the face of its first losing streak of the season, Price was just what the doctor ordered.
“He is a true No. 1 guy and he sets the tone for this club,” Corbin said. “Last year we kind of vacillated a bit but there is no doubt that he is a true No.1 guy. He absolutely wants the ball in these types of situations. He can change the momentum for our team and that is what No. 1 guys do. I think all good No. 1 guys have the ability to do that and he certainly does. He is very good that way.”
Corbin was clear Friday that as frustrating as the losses earlier in the week were, he wasn’t anywhere close to resorting to drastic measures, knowing full well that most any team will suffer what he calls “a hiccup or two” during the grind of the season.
“Anyone who has a clue about baseball would understand this,” Corbin said. “It’s college baseball. I don’t know, maybe after Middle Tennessee I should have jumped off of Memorial but I chose not to. And I think it is just one of those things where those things happen. I didn’t even think twice about it. Everyone was frustrated about it but once we got to practice Thursday, practice was loose and fun and we k new the weekend was going to be fun.”
Vanderbilt sophomore shortstop Ryan Flaherty said it is during the rough patches that every team invariably endures that a team’s true identity begins to emerge.
“Realistically, no team is going to go 56-0, and you are going through some ruts in the season,” Flaherty said. “I think that is when you find out who you are when you are in a little bit of a rut. You see if you are a team that can bounce back. The teams that win in the end are the teams that can do that.”
Will Matthews spent three years as an investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Newspaper Group in Southern California. He is currently in his third year at Vanderbilt Divinity School. To e-mail Will your feedback, Click Here