Sept. 13, 2007
NASHVILLE, Tenn. –Fresh off its finest season in school history, Vanderbilt baseball will open the fall practice season tomorrow afternoon at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores return seven position starters from last year’s team which finished 54-13 and ranked No. 6 in the country. VU, the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament champions, held the No. 1 spot for 13 of the 15 regular season polls and was the top seed in the NCAA tournament before falling to Michigan in the championship game of the Nashville Regional last June.
Three All-Americans return offensively in junior third baseman Pedro Alvarez, junior shorstop Ryan Flaherty and senior outfielder Dominic de la Osa.
Sophomore southpaw Mike Minor, SEBaseball.com’s SEC Freshman of the Year, will return to anchor the Commodore pitching rotation.
Offensively the lone Commodore not returning is leftfielder Matt Meingasner who completed his eligibility last season. Second baseman Alex Feinberg, first baseman Brad French, centerfielder David Macias and catcher Shea Robin all return for their senior seasons and have at least two years of starting experience.
Pitching is the area of the team to watch in the fall as VU has to replace several significant performers from last year’s team. VU lost first-team All-Americans and first-round draft picks David Price and Casey Weathers as well as veterans Cody Crowell, Ty Davis, Tyler Rhoden and Stephen Shao.
Junior righthanders Brett Jacobson and Nick Christiani are experienced performers and will be expected to provide quality innings after starting last season in the weekend rotation.
The Commodores have several players who redshirted last season along with a talented freshmen class that will compete for playing time.
“We have a very experienced core of offensive starters returning, especially with Dom coming back for his senior year,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin. “We definitely have some holes to fill on the pitching side and will use the fall as well as the early part of the spring to figure out what roles everyone will play this season.”
The Commodores fall practices are open to the public and will culminate in the annual Black and Gold Series on Oct. 25-26, 28. The first two games are on Thursday and Friday night at 6 p.m. with the finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The complete fall practice schedule is as follows and is subject to change.
Sept. 14 (2:30 p.m.)
Sept. 15 (8 a.m.)
Sept. 16 (12 p.m.)
Sept. 17 (Off)
Sept. 18 (3 p.m.)
Sept. 19 (2:30 p.m.)
Sept. 20 (Off)
Sept. 21 (2:30 p.m.)
Sept. 22 (10 a.m.)
Sept. 23 (12 p.m.)
Sept. 24 (Off)
Sept. 25 (3 p.m.)
Sept. 26 (2:30 p.m.)
Sept. 27 (Off)
Sept. 28 (2:30 p.m.)
Sept. 29 (10 a.m.)
Sept. 30 (12 p.m.)
Oct. 2 (3 p.m.)
Oct. 3 (2:30 p.m.)
Oct. 4 (Off)
Oct. 5 (2:30 p.m.)
Oct. 6 (10 a.m.)
Oct. 7 (12 p.m.)
Oct. 8 (Off)
Oct. 9 (3 p.m.)
Oct. 10 (2:30 p.m.)
Oct. 11 (Off)
Oct. 12 (2:30 p.m.)
Oct. 13 (8 a.m.)
Oct. 14 (Noon)
Oct. 15 (Off)
Oct. 16 (3 p.m.)
Oct. 17 (2:30 p.m.)
Oct. 18 (Off)
Oct. 19 (2:30 p.m.)
Oct. 20-22 (Fall Break)
Oct. 23 (6 p.m.)
Oct. 24 (2:30 p.m.)
Black And Gold Scrimmages
Oct. 25 (6 p.m.)
Oct. 26 (6 p.m.)
Oct. 27 (Off)
Oct. 28 (1 p.m.)