May 16, 2007
Gameday Ticket Availability:
Several hundred General Admission tickets remain available for all weekend games. Tickets for each game go on sale two hours prior to game time on that day. All Vanderbilt fans seeking tickets are encouraged to show up early on these days to get tickets. They will be sold on a first-come basis once the booth opens for sale two hours prior to first pitch.
Senior Day Recognition Saturday:
The Commodores will honor their seniors at approximately 11:40 a.m. during pre-game on Saturday.
COMMODORE GAMEDAY CENTRAL
LSU (29-23-1, 12-14-1 SEC) at No. 1 Vanderbilt (43-10, 19-8 SEC) at Hawkins Field (2,027)
Tentative Weekend Schedule:
Thursday, May 17 at 7 p.m. CT (TV: None; Radio: 560 AM)
David Price (9-0, 2.91 ERA) vs. Charlie Furbush (3-8, 5.27)
| Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
Friday, May 18 at 7 p.m. CT (TV: CSS, Jumbo Sports; Radio: 560 AM)
Mike Minor (7-1, 3.24 ERA) vs. Ryan Byrd (6-1, 4.57)
Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
Saturday, May 19 at 12 p.m. CT (TV: CSS, Jumbo Sports; Radio: 560 AM)
Cody Crowell (2-1, 4.60 ERA) vs. TBA
Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
ONLINE WEBCAST
LATEST VIDEO 5/14: Interview with Tim Corbin 5/14: Interview with Ryan Flaherty
LATEST AUDIO 
5/16: Listen to 104.5’s Interview with Tim Corbin 5/16: Listen to Thursday’s SEC Teleconference 5/15: Listen to 106.7’s Interview with Tim Corbin
STATISTICS AND MORE 
LSU’s Preview | Game Notes | Statistics | SEC Leaders
Series History vs. LSU:
LSU leads 47-27 in a series that began in 1954
Last Two Series
May 14, 2006 Vanderbilt 8, LSU 4 Baton Rouge
May 13, 2006 Vanderbilt 19, LSU 4 Baton Rouge
May 12, 2006 LSU 4, Vanderbilt 3 Baton Rouge
May 1, 2005 LSU 3, Vanderbilt 0 Nashville
April 30, 2005 LSU 9, Vanderbilt 3 (Game 2) Nashville
April 30, 2005 Vanderbilt 9, LSU 4 (Game 1) 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. LSU is not ranked.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 187-105 in his fifth season as head coach. He is 6-6 against LSU. LSU’s Paul Mainieri is 29-23-1 in his first year in Baton Rouge and 893-513-5 in 25 years overall. He is 1-0 against Vanderbilt.
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 series will be broadcast locally in Nashville on WNSR 560 AM. “Voice of the Commodores” Joe Fisher will call all of the action for Vanderbilt this weekend. In addition, both Friday and Saturday games will be televised via Jumbo Sports and CSS TV. Live stats via Gametracker and video web casts can be watched for free via vucommodores.com.
What’s On Tap
No. 1 Vanderbilt closes out its regular season this week with a three game SEC series against LSU starting on Thursday at 7 p.m. The teams will play again on Friday at 7 p.m. and on Saturday at Noon. The final two games will be televised regionally by Jumbo Sports/CSS. The series starts a day earlier to give teams an extra day off prior to the SEC tournament next week. The Commodores will honor their seniors at approximately 11:40 a.m. on Saturday.
Chasing A Championship
With last Saturday’s win over Auburn, Vanderbilt captured its first Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title since 1974. This week the Commodores are in search of their first ever-SEC regular season crown. VU captured titles in 1973, 1974 and 1980 when they were decided by a three-game series between division winners (73-74) or in a tournament (80) with the top two seeds from each division playing each other.
The Commodores hold a two-game lead over SEC West leader Arkansas heading into the weekend. VU’s magic number is two to win the championship outright. If the teams finish with identical conference records, they will be named co-champions with Arkansas gaining the No. 1 seed in the SEC tourney based on its head-to-head series win earlier this year.
Conference Tournament Info
By virtue of winning the SEC East last weekend, the Commodores are guaranteed to be either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the conference tournament next weekend in Birmingham. The two division winners are guaranteed the top two seeds regardless of conference record. If Vanderbilt is the No. 1 seed, the team will face the No. 8 seed on Wednesday at 5 p.m. If VU were the No. 2 seed, the Dores would take on the No. 7 seed at 10 a.m. that day.
The rest of the tournament field is yet to be decided with just Auburn eliminated from contention heading into the weekend.
Scouting LSU
LSU is 29-23-1 overall and 12-14-1 in SEC play after dropping two of three to Florida in Baton Rouge over the weekend.
Head coach Paul Mainieri is in his first year as head coach of the Tigers after leading Notre Dame to eight NCAA appearances and nine conference titles in 12 seasons in South Bend.
LSU has struggled offensively hitting .259 as a team with 39 homers and 273 runs scored in 53 games (5.1 runs per game). Outfielder/outfielder Blake Dean leads the team with a .328 batting average to go along with seven homers and 44 RBI.
The pitching staff sports a 5.11 team ERA with 403 strikeouts and 162 walks in 468.2 innings this season.
Junior southpaw Charlie Furbush (3-8, 5.27 ERA) is slated to take the hill on Thursday with sophomore lefty Ryan Byrd (6-1, 4.57 ERA) set to go on Friday. Sunday’s starter is yet to be determined.
Junior righthander Jared Bradford is the team’s relief ace, sporting a 10-3 record to go with a 4.35 ERA. He has five saves as well in 22 appearances and has also made 10 starts on the year. He has 75 strikeouts and just 15 walks in 89.0 innings on the year.
Commodores Remain No. 1 In National Ranking For Seventh Straight Week
With the series win over Auburn last weekend, 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 seventh straight week, while Collegiate Baseball put VU on top in its poll for the third straight week. Rivals.com joined the party this week, putting the Dores on top for the first time in four weeks.
The Commodores have been ranked No. 1 in at least one of the polls in 12 of the last 13 weeks.
The Commodores at 43-10 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 43 wins (39 in 2004) are the most ever for a VU squad in the regular season and the 19 wins in SEC play is also a school record, besting the 16 win years in 2004 and 2006. The team needs two more wins to tie the school record of 45 wins in a season set in 2004.
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.
Dominic de la Osa In Select Company
With his 15th homer of the year last weekend, Dominic de la Osa joined a select number of players in Division I baseball this season with 15 or more homers and 15 or more stolen bases. The junior is one of six players nationally to achieve the feat and is currently in line for All-American and SEC Player of the Year consideration. The Florida product leads the team with a .383 batting average to go with 15 homers, 19 doubles and 50 RBI. He leads the team with 16 stolen bases in 21 attempts and is also hitting .380 in 26 SEC games with eight homers, 13 doubles and 29 RBI. The other members of the 15-15 club are below:
Brian Rike, Louisiana Tech 20 HR, 15SB
Corey Brown, OK. State 19 HR, 17SB
Todd Frazier, Rutgers 19 HR, 21 SB
Joe Mahoney, Richmond 16 HR, 16 SB
Garrett Baker, Dallas Baptist 15 HR, 18SB
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt (43-10, 19-8 SEC) captured its seventh straight SEC series after taking two of three at Auburn over the weekend … VU has won 11 of its last 13 games and currently has a two-game lead in SEC overall standings with three games remaining. They have never won a regular season crown since the conference began to recognize it 1993. The team has three SEC titles; all via tournaments in 1973, 1974 and 1980 … Vanderbilt captured its first SEC Eastern Division Crown since 1974 on Saturday … The team won four of five SEC road series this year and finished with a 9-6 record … The 43 wins is tied for the most in the country (Florida State) and is two shy of tying the school record of 45 set in 2004 … The team leads the SEC in hitting with a .329 average (best in school history) and is third in ERA (3.67) … VU hit .319 as a team with five homers and 20 runs scored in the Auburn series … Pedro Alvarez was 6-for-12 (.500) with two homers and two RBI in the series … Dominic de la Osa was 6-for-13 (.462) with three doubles, a homer and three RBI. He currently leads the team with a .383 batting average overall and .380 in SEC play … Shea Robin went 5-for-11 on the week with a homer and four RBI. It was his first homer since the first game of the year against Rice (2/9) … Ryan Flaherty went 5-for-12 (.417) on the week and currently rides a 21 game hitting streak into the weekend. The Vanderbilt single season record is 27 set by Greg Thomas in 1991. Warner Jones had a 32 game hit streak over two seasons in 2003-04 … Ty Davis pitched 3.1 innings of one hit relief on Saturday against Auburn and has given up just one run in his last four appearances. During that span, he is 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA in 18 innings with 15 strikeouts and just two walks and five hits allowed … The Commodore pitching staff had a 4.67 ERA against Auburn with 21 strikeouts and seven walks in 27.0 innings … David Price picked up his ninth win of the year against Auburn on Friday, tying his single season win total of a year ago. With six strikeouts against the Tigers, he now has 149 on the year; six shy of his school record 155 set a year ago.
Trio Of Commodores Named Golden Spikes Award Semifinalists
USA Baseball announced that third baseman Pedro Alvarez and pitchers David Price and Casey Weathers were named semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award.
Vanderbilt had the most players named to the 50-man list for an award that honors the nation’s premier amateur baseball player.
Alvarez, the 2006 consensus National Freshman of the Year, is among the offensive leaders for the Commodores with a .380 batting average to go along with 15 homers and 55 RBI.
Price, one of five finalists for the award a year ago, is in the midst of his best season at Vanderbilt. The junior from Murfreesboro is 9-0 with a 2.91 ERA and has 149 strikeouts and 26 walks in 105.1 innings this season. He has tallied double-digit strikeouts in nine of his 14 starts this year and is currently second the nation in strikeouts per nine innings.
Weathers leads the team in wins with a 10-2 record to go with a 2.31 ERA. He leads the team with five saves in 25 relief appearances and has 58 strikeouts in 39.0 innings. The California native was recently named the top senior pitching prospect by Baseball America and is projected to be a first round pick in the amateur draft in June.
All three players were on the 2006 USA Baseball National Team that won a gold medal at the World University Championships last August.
The names of the 50 semi-finalists will now be forwarded to a voting body of 125 who will select the five finalists and the eventual 2007 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Winner.
This year will mark the 30th consecutive year that the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation’s premier amateur baseball player. The winner’s name will be announced on June 29, 2007, during the 2007 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Show presented by Major League Baseball.
Price Adds To New School Career Strikeout Record
The beat continues for David Price who notched six strikeouts against Auburn last Friday to add to his school career strikeout record. He now has 396 in his career with one more regular season start remaining tomorrow. With nine strikeouts against Kentucky on April 13, the junior lefthander broke a 35-year old school record with 355 career strikeouts. With his fifth strikeout against the Wildcats, he broke Mike Willis’ school record of 350 set from 1969-72. Of note, Willis achieved the mark in four years at Vanderbilt, compared to Price in three. The fellow southpaw went on to a five-year career in the major leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays (1977-81) and finished with a 7-21 record and 15 saves with a 4.59 ERA.
In addition Price now has 149 strikeouts this season, just six shy of the school record he set a year ago.
Record Watch
With 15 homers this year, Pedro Alvarez is now in ninth place on the school’s career homer list with 37. He needs two homers to move past Greg Thomas into ninth place on the all-time list. Alvarez needs 12 more round-trippers to tie Scotty Madison’s mark of 49 set from 1977-80.
Alvarez Named To USA Baseball National Team For Second Straight Year
Sophomore third baseman Pedro Alvarez was selected to play for the USA Baseball National Team for the second straight season after helping lead the 2006 team to a gold medal.
Alvarez started all 31 games for Team USA last summer and led the squad with a .378 average to go with five HR’s and a team high 48 RBI’s.
The 2007 USA Baseball National Team will open its season in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) in preparation for four international series and two international events this summer. Team USA will play in the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the World Port Tournament in The Netherlands. The USA Baseball National Team will also host the 36th Annual USA vs. Japan Collegiate Championship Series and an Inaugural Friendship Series versus the Chinese National Team.
Alex Feinberg Named Academic All-District
Vanderbilt junior second baseman Alex Feinberg has been named to the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District first team in district four.
Feinberg had a 3.31 grade point average as an economics major entering the spring semester. As a first team all-district selection, Feinberg is eligible to be voted for the CoSIDA Academic All-America squad.