April 24, 2008
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VANDERBILT GAMEDAY CENTRAL
No. 17 Kentucky (31-10, 9-9 SEC) at No. 10 VU (30-11, 10-7)
at Hawkins Field (3,000) in Nashville, Tenn.
Click Here for Ticket Information
Friday, April 25 at 6 p.m. CT (TV: None; Radio: 560 AM)
Chris Rusin (4-1, 3.16 ERA) vs. Mike Minor (4-3, 4.22) 
Pay-per-View Webcast | 
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Saturday, April 26 at 2 p.m. CT (TV: None; Radio: 560 AM)
James Paxton (3-2, 3.48 ERA) vs. Caleb Cotham (6-2, 3.06) Pay-per-View Webcast | | | Sirius
Sunday, April 27 at 1 p.m. CT (TV: None; Radio: 560 AM)
Greg Dombrowski (4-0, 3.23 ERA) vs. Nick Christiani (5-1, 3.97) Pay-per-View Webcast | | | Sirius
2008 STATISTICS
VU Game Notes | 2008 Statistics | SEC Standings & Leaders
KENTUCKY LINKS
Game Preview | Notes & Season Statistics
Series History
Kentucky leads 135-124-5 in a series that dates back to 1905. The Commodores have won three of the five series against the Wildcats under Tim Corbin, including last season in Lexington. UK won two of three against VU in Nashville in 2006. Vanderbilt holds a 67-58-4 series lead in games played in the Music City.
Last Year in Lexington
April 13, 2007: Vanderbilt 10, Kentucky 8
April 14, 2007: Vanderbilt 9, Kentucky 4
April 15, 2007: Kentucky 8, Vanderbilt 6
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked in all the national polls, with a high ranking of No. 10 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. ESPN/Sports Weekly puts the Commodores at No. 13. Baseball America has VU at No. 17 and Rivals.com has the team at No. 18. Collegiate Baseball ranks the Dores No. 20 this week. Kentucky is ranked No. 17 by the NCBWA, No. 21 by the Coaches Poll, No. 22 by BA and No. 23 by CB. All of the National Polls can be found on page 6 of the release.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 228-119 in his sixth season as head coach. He is 9-6 against the Wildcats all-time. UK’s John Cohen is 162-103-1 in his fifth season with the Wildcats. He is 308-187-1 in nine years overall. He is 4-8 against the Commodores 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 this weekend. The Saturday and Sunday contests will also be carried on Sirius Satellite Radio on Channel 122. All three games will also be available via pay-per-view webcasts through www.vucommodores.com. Live stats can also be accessed through vucommodores.com.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt opens up a streak of four series against Southeastern Conference Eastern Division opponents this weekend as Kentucky comes to town for three games. The Commodores and Wildcats will open play on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Scouting Kentucky
Kentucky is 31-10 overall and 9-9 in SEC play after taking two of three from Florida last weekend in Lexington. The Wildcats lost a midweek game to Louisville, 6-5, on Tuesday and rebounded with a 2-1 win over Western Kentucky on Wednesday to improve to 22-1 in non-conference action.
The mark of the Wildcats under fifth-year head coach John Cohen has been hitting and this year has been no exception as they lead the SEC with a .331 batting average to go with 60 homers, 97 doubles and 351 runs scored (8.56 per game). Senior outfielder Sawyer Carroll leads the team with a .447 batting average with 12 homers and 56 RBI. Fellow outfielder Collin Cowgill has also excelled this year with a .391 average and 16 homers and 46 RBI. He was named the SEC Hitter of the Week after batting .600 (9-for-15), scoring a team high 11 times, ripping a double, three homers and six RBI in five games.
Junior left-hander Chris Rusin (4-1, 3.16 ERA) will start for the Wildcats on Friday with sophomore left-hander James Paxton (3-2, 3.48 ERA) scheduled to go on Saturday. Senior right-hander Greg Dombrowski (4-0, 3.23 ERA) will start on Sunday. As a team, the Wildcats sport a 3.51 ERA (second in the SEC) with 322 strikeouts and 130 walks in 363.2 innings.
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt enters the weekend having won 11 of its last 12 games since getting swept by Ole Miss in the first weekend of April … Vanderbilt now has the third best record in the Southeastern Conference at 10-7, but would be the fourth seed in the SEC Tourney if the season ended today because the two division winners are the top seeds … David Macias, last week’s SEC Hitter of the Week, continued his steady senior season going 9-for-21 (.421) with a double and four runs scored last week. He had a 14-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday and has had an 18 game and 14 game skein this season. He has recorded at least one hit in 37 of 41 games … Dominic de la Osa also had a solid week offensively, going 6-for-17 (.353) with a triple and four RBI. He had three stolen bases on Sunday against AU and now has 21 for the season, marking the second straight year of 20 plus bags … Catcher Shea Robin had a good weekend series against Auburn, going 7-for-11 (.636) with a triple, four RBI and three runs scored … Robin rested during the midweek, and his replacement Curt Casali also fared well at the plate going 5-for-12 (.417) with a double and two RBI … The Commodores weekend staff included five freshmen, one sophomore and one junior … Freshman Caleb Cotham recorded a season best 11 strikeouts in Saturday’s 8-2 win over Auburn. He allowed six hits in 8.1 innings and gave up two runs in improving to a team best 6-2 on the year with a 3.06 ERA … Junior Brett Jacobson pitched 3.2 scoreless innings against WKU to pick up his second save of the season. He followed that up by pitching 1.2 innings of scoreless relief against Austin Peay (4/22) and 1.1 scoreless innings against Belmont (4/23) to pick up his second save of the year … He has not given up a run in his last five outings (7.2 innings) … Redshirt freshman Russell Brewer pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief against Auburn on Sunday to pick up his fourth save. He came into the game in the eighth with the bases loaded and one out and VU holding a 9-5 lead. The first batter Brewer faced was Mike Bianucci, who had homered twice already in the game and was 3-for-3. Brewer struck him out and then faced Hunter Morris who also had homered previously in the game and against Brewer the day before. He got Morris to pop up to second on the first pitch to end the inning. Brewer then pitched a 0.2 innings in the ninth against Austin Peay (4/22) to earn his fifth save of the year … Richie Goodenow has not given up a run in nine of his 10 outings on the year including the last seven (3.2 innings) as a specialist out of the pen.
Commodore Bats and Pitching Coming Together
Since getting swept at Ole Miss to drop to 19-10 overall and 5-6 in the SEC, the Commodores have reeled off 11 wins in 12 games. Even in the lone loss, a 6-3 decision to Auburn last Friday, Vanderbilt held a 3-2 lead into the seventh before falling. During this streak the Commodores are batting .326 with 12 homers, 28 doubles, six triples and 100 runs scored. On the mound, the staff has posted a 3.25 ERA with 123 strikeouts and 49 walks in 108.0 innings. The defense has also fared well, with a .975 fielding percentage during that time.
Wormsley, Giobbi Lead VU Past Belmont
Redshirt freshman Jordan Wormsley sparked a three-run seventh inning with a RBI single that broke a 6-6 tie and propelled Vanderbilt to a 10-7 win over Belmont Wednesday night at Greer Stadium.
Wormsley, a redshirt freshman from Knoxville, Tenn., came into the game with three hits in seven at-bats at Vanderbilt and equaled that total with three hits and two RBI on the night,
VU took a 6-4 lead in the top of the sixth, only to see Belmont come back and tie the game in the bottom half. Shea Robin then led off the seventh with a double and Wormsley scored him with a single through the right side to give the Dores a 7-6 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Ryan Flaherty added a two-out two-run double to extend the lead to 9-6.
Wormsley added a RBI single in the eighth to extend the lead to 10-6. Belmont scored a run in the bottom half on a RBI double by Derek Wiley for the final score of the game.
Belmont took a 1-0 led in the first on Daniel Wagner’s RBI double to left-center. The Bruins added two unearned runs in the second on a two-run double to right-center by Brandon McCall to make it 3-0.
The Commodores got on the board in the third scoring on a David Macias RBI single. They added another run in the fifth to cut the lead to 3-2.
The Bruins plated another run in the bottom of the fifth on a RBI double by Vinny Casha to make it 4-2.
Andrew Giobbi put the Commodores up for the first time in the game with two outs in the sixth, belting a 1-2 pitch by Brian Kelley over the wall in left for a grand-slam homer. It was his second homer of the season and scored Pedro Alvarez who doubled and Ryan Flaherty and Dominic de la Osa who both walked with two outs.
The Bruins rallied back to tie the game in the bottom half, scoring two unearned runs in the sixth to make it 6-6.
Steven Liddle had three hits to help lead the 12-hit Vanderbilt attack.
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 season. 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 started a four-week run of one-hour call-in shows last Monday 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 remaining shows will air on April 28, May 5 and May 12 from 7-8 p.m.
In addition Coach Corbin does a weekly interview at 4:06 p.m. on Mondays with 560 AM WNSR.
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, David Macias and most recently Pedro Alvarez have joined him on the exclusive list. De la Osa now has 274 hits in his four-year career, good for third on the all-time list. Feinberg has 241 in his four years and is currently eighth, while Flaherty has 236 in just his third year, good for 10th best in school history. Macias has 226 hits in his career (12th), while Alvarez joined the club against Auburn and now has 206 (22nd).
Alvarez and de la Osa Approaching School Homer Record
Pedro Alvarez and Dominic de la Osa are within reach of the school’s career home-run record. Alvarez missed 23 games but has hit three homers since his return at the start of April 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 six homers on the year that ties him with Cam Hazen for fifth most in school history. Alvarez needs six more round-trippers and de la Osa needs seven 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 853 going into the Kentucky series. De la Osa also has 59 career doubles, just two off the school mark of 61 set by Sean Luellwitz from 1999-2002.