April 17, 2008
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VANDERBILT GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Auburn (22-16, 6-9 SEC) at Vanderbilt (26-10, 8-6)
at Hawkins Field (3,000) in Nashville, Tenn.
Friday, April 18 at 6 p.m. CT (TV: None; Radio: 560 AM)
Grant Dayton (4-1, 3.72 ERA) vs. Mike Minor (4-2, 3.95) 
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Saturday, April 19 at 12 p.m. CT (TV: CSS; Radio: 560 AM)
Cory Luckie (4-3, 3.54 ERA) vs. Caleb Cotham (5-2, 3.22) 
| | Sirius Radio
Sunday, April 20 at 1 p.m. CT (TV: None; Radio: 560 AM)
Bradley Hendrix (1-0, 4.74 ERA) vs. Nick Christiani (4-1, 3.57) | | Sirius Radio
2008 STATISTICS
VU Game Notes | 2008 Statistics | SEC Standings & Leaders
AUBURN LINKS
Game Preview | Notes & Season Statistics
Series History
Auburn leads 87-43-1 in a series that dates back to 1912. The Commodores have won the last three series against the Tigers, including a series sweep two years ago in Nashville. VU won two of three against Auburn last season in Auburn.
Last Year at Auburn
May 11, 2007: Vanderbilt 10, Auburn 5
May 12, 2007: Vanderbilt 6, Auburn 5
May 13, 2007: Auburn 5, Vanderbilt 4
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked in all the national polls, with a high ranking of No. 11 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. ESPN/Sports Weekly puts the Commodores at No. 14. Baseball America has VU at No. 17 and Rivals.com has the team at No. 18. Collegiate Baseball ranks the Dores No. 22 this week. Auburn is not ranked this week. All of the National Polls can be found on page 6 of the release.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 224-118 in his sixth season as head coach. He is 7-3 against the Tigers all-time. Auburn’s Tom Slater is 109-101 in his fourth season with the Tigers. He is 159-201 in seven years overall. He is 1-5 against Vanderbilt all-time.
Radio/TV/Internet
All three games will be broadcast on WNSR 560 AM in Nashville. In addition you can catch the internet version of the broadcast via www.vucommodores.com. “Voice of the Commodores” Joe Fisher will call the action on Friday and Sunday with Eric Jones filling in on Saturday. The Saturday and Sunday contests will also be carried on Sirius Satellite Radio on Channel 122. Saturday’s contest will be televised regionally on CSS. Joe Fisher and Willy Daunic will call the action. The Friday and Sunday games will also be available via a free webcast through www.vucommodores.com. Live stats can also be accessed through vucommodores.com as well.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt returns home this weekend for a three-game Southeastern Conference series against Auburn at Hawkins Field. The Commodores played the last two weekends at Ole Miss and at Mississippi State and just completed a stretch of 9 of 11 games on the road. The series begins on Friday at 6 p.m. with a noon game on Saturday and a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday. Saturday’s game will be televised regionally on CSS, check your local listings for availability.
Scouting Auburn
Auburn is 22-16 on the season and 6-9 in SEC play after getting swept by South Carolina at home over the weekend. The Tigers enter the weekend on a four-game losing streak after falling to South Alabama by a 7-1 score at Plainsman Park on Wednesday.
Freshman first baseman Hunter Morris leads the team with a .362 batting average with eight homers and 37 RBI. He has excelled in conference action as well, batting .467 with four homers and 17 RBI in 15 games. As a team, Auburn is hitting at a .310 clip with 30 homers and 264 runs scored (6.9 per game).
Redshirt freshman left-hander Grant Dayton (4-1, 3.72 ERA) will start for the Tigers on Friday with true freshman left-hander Cory Luckie (4-3, 3.54 ERA) scheduled to go on Saturday. Freshman right-hander Bradley Hendrix (1-0, 4.74 ERA) will complete the string of first-year players to start on Sunday. Junior right-hander Bryan Woodall (0-1, 2.70 ERA) is the Auburn relief specialist with 24 strikeouts and three walks in 23.1 innings with eight saves. As a team, the Tigers sport a 4.26 ERA with 263 strikeouts and 113 walks in 338.0 innings.
Commodore Tidbits
A week after going 1-4, Vanderbilt has reeled off seven straight wins, including a three-game sweep at Mississippi State over the weekend … The sweep was VU’s first in conference play on the road since defeating Georgia April 15-16, 1993. It was also the school’s first sweep in Starkville since 1914 and first series win there since 1986 … The 35 runs scored on the weekend was the most in a three-game SEC road series in school history … During the seven-game win streak VU is batting .322 with seven homers, four triples, 14 doubles and 61 runs scored (8.7 per game). The pitching staff has a 2.14 ERA with 71 strikeouts and 30 walks in 63.0 innings and had the first shutout of the season against MSU on Saturday (16-0). The defense has only made four errors in 260 chances and made several critical plays throughout the week … Pedro Alvarez continues to shine in SEC play. In just his second week back, he went 8-for-15 (.533), with a double, homer and eight runs scored against Mississippi State on the weekend. He is batting .462 in six conference games with three homers, two doubles and 11 runs scored. He is slugging at a .885 clip in league play. Alvarez hit a solo homer on Sunday against MSU and then hit a hot shot to second base in the ninth that scored the Dores fourth run in a 4-3 win … Ryan Flaherty also had a hot week at the plate going 9-for-23 (.391) with three homers, nine RBI and seven runs scored. He now leads the team with eight homers and 35 RBI, with five of his homers coming in SEC play … Redshirt freshman Caleb Cotham threw seven shutout innings against Mississippi State on Saturday. He struck out seven and walked four and combined with Taylor Hill and Brett Jacobson on the team’s first shutout of the year. Cotham now leads the team with a 5-2 record and 3.22 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 18 walks in 44.2 innings … Junior Nick Christiani had a big week with a pair of wins, going 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA. He gave up one run on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks in 6.2 innings in winning start against Western Kentucky last Tuesday. Then the New Jersey native picked up the Sunday win over MSU to sweep the series. He allowed just three hits while striking out 10 with four walks, while giving up two runs. Christiani is now 4-1 on the season with a 3.57 ERA … Vanderbilt completed its strech of nine of 11 games on the road by going 8-3 in that span.
David Macias Receives SEC Weekly Honor
The league office named senior outfielder David Macias the Southeastern Conference Hitter of the Week on Monday.
Macias was the catalyst for Vanderbilt’s 5-0 week and first sweep over Mississippi State in Starkville since 1914. The Commodore leadoff hitter went 13-for-23 (.565) with a double, triple, homer and four RBI with nine runs scored in five games overall. He was 8-for-15 (.533) against State with a .933 slugging percentage and .588 on base percentage.
The Woodlands, Texas, native tripled in the ninth on Sunday against Mississippi State relief ace Aaron Weatherford and scored what would be the deciding run in a 4-3 win. He currently leads the team in hitting at .394 (fifth in the SEC) and has a career high six homers this season from the leadoff spot.
It is the first weekly honor for Vanderbilt this season and the first for Macias in his career.
Alex Feinberg Returns Less Than A Week After Surgery
Senior second baseman Alex Feinberg suffered a broken jaw in the first game of a doubleheader against Ole Miss on April 5. A fastball clocking in around 92 mph from Ole Miss ace Lance Lynn hit him below the mouth breaking his jaw. Feinberg went back to Nashville that night and had successful surgery the next morning. His down time was expected to be a week but he returned to action less than a week after surgery as he pinch hit against Mississippi State on Friday, April 11. Feinberg then served as the team’s designated hitter on Saturday and Sunday. He wears a batting helmet fixed with a facemask when batting. He did not anticipate playing last weekend and did not bring his regular jersey (No. 8) and instead wore No. 10 all weekend.
The Orinda, Calif., native was leading the team with a .400 batting average, good for third in the SEC at the time of the injury. He has been cleared to play the field and could see time at second base.
Aaron Westlake Out For The Year
Freshman infielder Aaron Westlake had season ending surgery on April 8 due to blood clots in his right shoulder. The California native had played in 15 games, with four starts at designated hitter. He batted .241 with four RBI and had his best game two weeks ago in the series-clinching win over Arkansas on March 30. Westlake went 2-for-3 with three RBI in the contest that gave the Commodores its first ever series win over the Razorbacks. The team will attempt to get a medical redshirt season for him. The Shasta High School graduate from Redding was considered the No. 55 prospect out of California last year by Baseball America.
Bleachers Are Open
Last season bleacher seating was added for the Nashville Regional with a 1,000 seats bleacher seats erected in rightfield. The move was such a success that it has been added again in time for SEC play this weekend. A limited amount of tickets still remain and can be purchased by visiting the Vanderbilt ticket office or by calling (615) 322-GOLD. With the additional seating, Hawkins Field capacity is now over the 3,000 mark at 3,027. A more permanent seating structure in the outfield is in the works and is anticipated to be in place for the 2009 season.
Coach Corbin Call-In Show/Radio Notes
Head coach Tim Corbin will start a four-week run of one-hour call-in shows on Monday, April 21 at 7 p.m. on 104.5 FM The Zone. “Voice of the Commodores” Joe Fisher will host the show at the Commodore Sports Bar and Grill located in the Holiday Inn Select on West End. The shows will air on April 21, April 28, May 5 and May 12.
In addition Coach Corbin does a weekly interview at 4:06 p.m. on Mondays with 560 AM WNSR.
Commodore fans can also check out the team’s Saturday and Sunday games for the rest of the year on Sirius Satellite Radio. The team’s games against SEC foes can be found on Channel 122.
The 200-Hit Club
Coming into the season Dominic de la Osa was the lone active Commodore in the 200 hit club. Alex Feinberg, Ryan Flaherty and David Macias have now joined him on the exclusive list with Pedro Alvarez one hit behind. De la Osa now has 267 hits in his four-year career, good for third on the all-time list. Feinberg has 237 in his four years and is currently ninth, while Flaherty has 228 in just his third year, good for 11th best in school history. Macias has 220 hits in his career (tied for 13th), while the just returning Alvarez is one short with 199.
Alvarez and de la Osa Approaching School Homer Record
With 18 homers in 2007, Pedro Alvarez moved into sixth place on the school’s career list with 40 total jacks. Also in the Top 10 after a stellar junior campaign is Dominic de la Osa with 36.
Alvarez missed 23 games but has hit three homers since his return two weeks ago to up his career total to 43. That ties him with Glenn Davis for third on the school’s all-time list. De la Osa has five homers on the year that ties him with Josh Adeeb for sixth most in school history.Alvarez needs six more round-trippers and de la Osa needs eight to tie Scotti Madison’s mark of 49 set from 1977-80.
De la Osa broke Boomer Whipple’s mark of 809 career at-bats against Ole Miss and now has 834 going into the Auburn series. De la Osa also has 58 career doubles, just three off the school mark of 61 set by Sean Luellwitz from 1999-2002.
Commodores Picked To Finish First in SEC (East) By Coaches
Vanderbilt is predicted to repeat as the 2008 Southeastern Conference baseball champions, as voted by the league’s 12 baseball coaches in the 17th annual preseason SEC poll.
The Commodores, ranked as high as No. 3 nationally in the preseason polls, seek to capture their fifth SEC Championship, having also won titles in 1973, 1974, 1980 and 2007. Vanderbilt returns eight position starters and four pitchers from their 2007 squad which also won the SEC Tournament and earned the National No. 1 Seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Since 1996, the SEC has named a regular season champion as well as a tournament champion. Prior to 1996, the tournament champion was considered the SEC Champion.