May 20, 2008
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No. 6 Seed Vanderbilt (37-18, 15-14 SEC)
vs. No. 3 Seed Florida (34-20, 17-13)
Wednesday, May 21 – 1 p.m. CT – SEC Tournament First Round
at Regions Park (10,800) in Hoover, Ala.
Live Audio | Live Stats at SEC Central | Game Preview
How does a team that has lost five straight games and three of its last four series break out of a rut? While playing in the Southeastern Conference Tournament wouldn’t seem like the most logical of solutions, it just may be if you are talking about Vanderbilt’s baseball team.
You see, to Vanderbilt, Hoover, Ala., and the SEC Tournament couldn’t be a more comfortable setting. In its last three appearances in the tournament, the Commodores (37-18, 15-14 SEC) have dominated play en route to winning the championship in 2007 and finishing runner-up in 2006 and 2004.
All of that success, coupled with their recent woes has the Commodores more eager than ever to play in the 2008 SEC Tournament. Vanderbilt’s first shot to end its skid will come at 1 p.m. on Wednesday against Florida – the team that just swept the Commodores last weekend.
“It is just a good environment and it is a real fun tournament to play in,” Vanderbilt shortstop Ryan Flaherty said. “I think this tournament is something that can get us back on track and help us get a little momentum going forward.”
Vanderbilt’s recent history of success in the tournament has also given the team an air of confidence despite the recent losses.
“We’ve been through it before and we look at it as a tournament that we play well in,” Flaherty added. “We’ve had a couple of tough weekends in a row now, so it is time to get down there and take care of some business.”
Even with the added confidence, it must be noted that Vanderbilt’s stretch run to its last three SEC Tournaments have looked nothing like this year’s. In each of those seasons, the Commodores had won five of their last six games entering the tournament, not lost five of their last six.
In a sense, Vanderbilt’s recent losing skid is just another twist in what has been a roller coaster of a season. Just prior to its current losing streak, the Commodores had won six games in a row, which included a sweep at Tennessee.
“It is all about perspective right now and it is a new season,” Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin said. “The only perspective you can take right now is where you are going, not what you’ve done. Now it is our job to win some ball games in this tournament and take this for however long that we can.”
Like Corbin, Flaherty agrees that the team must put the past behind it and move forward.
“The whole year has been crazy,” Flaherty commented. “We’ve had a lot of ups and we’ve had a lot of downs. Now we are in the postseason, and this is the time when it matters the most.”
All of those ups and downs have certainly brought a lot of uncertainty to this year’s Commodores, but one thing that is certain is that the team knows how to face adversity.
“It has been a tough year for us in a lot of different ways,” Corbin said. “We’ve been hit with a lot of thunderbolts whether its injuries or just odd experiences during weekends. It was not as smooth as last year. We set a bar for our self last year by playing so well. Whether that was attainable or not, we just didn’t play that same way, so we’ve come to this point of the season in a lot different manner than we did last year. I choose to think that it is all for the good.”
From Pedro Alvarez breaking his hand in the season opener to the countless hours spent together during an inordinate number rain delays, the experiences shared by the team this season have certainly brought the team closer than ever before.
“We have the team camaraderie that we need to have at the SEC Tournament because you are spending so much time together and playing all the time,” Vanderbilt pitcher Brett Jacobson said.
However, to be successful in the tournament, Jacobson knows that it will take more than camaraderie to win this week in Hoover.
“I think the biggest key for us to be successful is guys stepping up when we really need them to,” Jacobson said. “We always seem to have an unlikely hero.”
Whatever the case may be – given the strange turns of the 2008 season – it would be hard to say anything is unlikely to happen. Maybe the only thing you can count on seeing this week is a determined Vanderbilt team.
“I think we can really prove to ourselves and everyone else this week that we belong among the top teams in college baseball and we have a team that can win a national championship,” Jacobson said.