May 27, 2007
Recap: Vanderbilt 7 Arkansas 4
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More Hardware, More Goals
Post-Game Column By Rod Williamson
There were Southeastern Conference championship t-shirts and caps, the Vanderbilt-dominated all-tournament team announcements and one very nice tournament trophy that will compliment the regular season hardware that was presented at the start of this memorable five days of play.
There were handshakes, smiles, photos, well-wishes yelled from the throng of Commodore fans that had swelled behind the dugout. (By the way, when was the last time a crowd of 7,263 was dominated by Vanderbilt fans, anyway? We owned the park today.)
But there was one thing noticeable absent in the glow of the post-game celebration – euphoria.
Typical of this never-say-die team, there was still focus toward the future. For a program that had not won this tournament in 27 years, there was amazingly little talk about THIS win. Could it be a squad that now sports a nation’s best 51 victories expected to win? I think yes.
Indeed, the attention quickly moves ahead to tomorrow’s announcement of the trio of teams heading to next Friday’s regional at Hawkins Field. But before we put Hoover in our rear view mirror, let’s point out a few things that are no doubt already being discussed over cold beverages from Maine to San Diego by one group that is euphoric – Vanderbilt alumni and friends.
In his post-game press conference, Tim Corbin said the team had talked prior to the tournament about “unlikely heroes.” As usual, the skipper was right again.
Just yesterday the names were Jason Cunningham and Shea Robin. Today the three guys brought into the interview room were Matt Meingasner, Tyler Rhoden and Pedro Alvarez, the tournament Most Valuable Player. Pedro would be the last person to be identified as an unlikely hero but if I took poetic license and swapped his name from Brett Jacobson we might have something.
Meingasner made a Major League throw to the plate with two outs in the eighth to cut down a Razorback attempting to score. Not only was the runner out, he was CLEARLY out – a play that took the wind out of the Hog sails.
What can we say about Rhoden, a third-year right hander who had not pitched in a month? He comes in and goes 6 2/3 innings and picks up the victory. Corbin said that the Jacksonville native told the staff last night he wanted the ball `and he backed it up today.”
Jacobson closed out the win, picking up his first save and showing the spunk that made him the Arizona “Gatorade Player of the Year” three years ago.
Corbin, who was careful with his compliments, said his team’s improbable five-game comeback showed “we can take a punch”. That’s an understatement.
Most observers look at Arkansas as an odds-on choice to make Omaha, yet the Commodores had more in the gas tank after SIX games than the Hogs did after just four. Talk about depth.
There is a lot to talk about and a lot more to remember. It’s been a Field of Dreams for us fans. We’ll excuse the Commodores if they are distracted at the moment – they have more wood to chop.