June 1, 2007
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Commodores Continue to Make Magic
Post-Game Column By Will Matthews
NASHVILLE – When Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez’s searing ground ball down the first base line with the potential game-winning run on first was turned into a double play in the bottom of the 11th inning Friday night, Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin was afraid he could see the writing on the wall.
“It goes your way and it doesn’t go your way,” Corbin said in the immediate aftermath of his team’s heart-stopping, 11-inning, 2-1 win over Austin Peay that propels the Commodores into the winner’s bracket of the Nashville Regional and a 7 p.m. game Saturday against Big-10 regular season champion Michigan. “I thought the baseball Gods were going to turn around on us when Pedro hit that ball right at [Austin Peay first baseman Jake] Lane at first base. If he is playing a foot to the right that ball is down the line and we score. I was thinking, `Oh boy, it is one of those nights where nothing is going to kick in.”
In the end, however – and after just the latest enthralling and improbable Vanderbilt win there are no excuses left for being surprised – something did indeed kick in.
After Alvarez’s double play ball wiped Dominic de la Osa’s leadoff single off the boards and pushed the game to the brink of the 12th inning, Vanderbilt strung together a hit, a walk, a passed ball and a dribbler back to the mound that was misplayed by Austin Peay reliever Ben Wilshire to land in the now all-familiar winner’s circle for a running school record 52nd time this year.
You can forgive Austin Peay Head Coach Gary McClure, who watched his club squander a heroic 10-inning, nine strikeout effort by starter Shawn Kelley, for thinking there is something supernatural at work for Vanderbilt this year.
“Vanderbilt just seems to have magic this year,” McClure said.
But for as magical as Vanderbilt’s run has seemed at times this season, there is no question that the Commodores have created much of their own luck by doing the kinds of things that consistently have put them in position to win ballgames.
Friday was no different.
Vanderbilt ace David Price was his usual dominant self, pitching nine innings, striking out a whopping 17 batters – tying a career best – and allowing only Tyler Farrar’s leadoff homerun to left field in the ninth inning.
And right fielder Dominic de la Osa, known mostly for his bat, made perhaps Vanderbilt’s defensive play of the year in the top of the fourth when he robbed Austin Peay designated hitter Trey Lucas of extra bases with an all-out diving catch of a ball in the gap, saving a run and ending the inning when he got to his feet and doubled up Lane by firing a strike to first base.
Say what you will about Vanderbilt only managing to push across runs Friday by virtue of a passed ball and an error, but Corbin is not making any apologies.
“We deserved to win because we pitched and played defense,” Corbin said. “Just because we scored on a passed ball and an error, we pitched well enough and played good enough defense. Now we may have not gotten it done offensively. But listen, we didn’t hurt ourselves on the other side. It is kind of what I’ve talked about from day one in our first meeting. Pitching and defense – you have got to bring it to the ballpark every single night. And if you do that you have got a chance. We did it, we gave ourselves a chance.”
And it is something that Vanderbilt has done since day one.
“You come back as much as we have this year and you create some of that magic for yourself,” Corbin said. “We created it day one against Rice. That’s what we did. You go back to that series and from there on out we’ve created that kind of thing. But these kids are believers. They are believers and they are achievers. They know what they can accomplish.”
Will Matthews spent three years as an investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Newspaper Group in Southern California. He earned his Master of Divinity degree in 2007 from Vanderbilt Divinity School. To email Will your feedback, Click Here