Feb. 26, 2009
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Vermont (0-0) at Vanderbilt (2-3) — Hawkins Field (3,700) in Nashville, Tenn.
Friday, February 27 – 6 p.m. CT: Joe Serafin (Senior, L, N/A) vs. Mike Minor (Junior, L, 0-0, 3.18)
Saturday, February 28 – 2 p.m. CT: Justin Albert (Senior, L, N/A) vs. Caleb Cotham (Soph., R, 1-0, 1.29)
Sunday, March 1 – 1 p.m. CT: Bobby Dean (Frosh., R, N/A) vs. Nick Christiani (Senior, R, 0-0, 4.50)
Series History vs Vermont
Friday’s contest will be the first ever meeting between the schools in baseball.
Polls
Neither Vanderbilt nor Vermont is ranked in this week’s polls.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 241-133 in his seventh season in Nashville. He is 347-271 in 13 seasons overall. Vermont’s Bill Currier is 463-437 in 21 years in Burlington.
Radio/TV/Internet
The contests can be watched and listened to via a free webcast on www.vucommodores.com. Eric “The Stache” Jones will call the action.Live stats can also be accessed through www.vucommodores.com. Fans wishing to receive updates while away from a computer can sign up for twitter updates on their cell via www.twitter.com/vandybaseball.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt will continue its nine-game homestand this weekend as Vermont comes to town for a three-game set. The teams start play on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. tilt on Saturday and a 1 p.m. game on Sunday. Season tickets, as well as single game tickets for non-conference contests, can be purchased via the internet at www.vucommodores.com or through the Vanderbilt ticket office at (615) 322-GOLD.
Scouting Vermont
Vermont opens its 113th and final season of baseball this weekend in Nashville. Last week the school announced they would be dropping both the baseball and softball teams as part of a university-wide budget management plan.
The Catamounts return six offensive starters and three starting pitchers from last year’s team that finished 27-24 overall and in fourth place in the America East Conference with a 12-11 record.
Junior outfielder Justin Milo and sophomore shortstop Matt Duffy return to lead the UV offense. Milo, currently on the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, led the Catamounts with a .328 batting average along with six homers and 40 RBI a year ago. Duffy, a 2008 Freshman All-American, batted .308 with 18 doubles and 33 RBI in his first collegiate campaign. As a team Vermont batted .287 with 21 homers, 91 doubles and 306 runs scored in 51 games (6 per game).
Senior left-hander Joe Serafin, the 2008 America East Pitcher of the Year, returns as the team’s ace and Friday starter. He went 6-5 with a 2.51 ERA and struck out 58 batters with 30 walks in 79.0 innings of work a year ago while also pitching seven complete games in 11 starts. Fellow senior southpaw Justin Albert will start on Saturday while freshman right-hander Bobby Dean will take the hill on Sunday. Albert went 5-5 with a 3.65 ERA in 2008 and recorded 62 strikeouts and 25 walks in a team high 81.1 innings pitched. As a team UV recorded a 4.79 ERA with 283 strikeouts and 180 walks in 413.2 innings.
Head coach Bill Currier is in his 22nd season at his alma mater and is a three-time America East Coach of the Year. He played for current Clemson coach Jack Leggett, who coached at UV from 1978-82, and later coached with him at Western Carolina for two seasons (1985-86).
Starting Pitching Stout
Going into the season one of the expected strengths of the 2009 Commodores was the starting pitching and they have delivered through the first five games of the season. Each starter has gone five or more innings heading into the weekend and the starters have recorded both of VU’s wins. The group (Mike Minor, Caleb Cotham, Nick Christiani, Sean Bierman and Chase Reid) is 2-0 with a 3.03 ERA and have struck out 27 batters to just eight walks in 29.2 innings. This should be an area that gets even stronger as the season progresses and as they go deeper into contests.
Brian Harris Leads The Way
In the fall of 2005, Brian Harris was part of the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. He redshirted as a true freshman as fellow newcomers Pedro Alvarez and Ryan Flaherty started in the infield. He worked on his game and saw a gradual increase in his playing time in 2007 and 2008, including playing in 42 games a year ago. This season he has made the most of his opportunity as an everyday starter in the infield. Harris leads the team with a .438 batting average and seven RBI through five games. The Nashville native has a knack for getting on base with five walks and has also been hit three times leading to a .625 on-base percentage. As the leadoff hitter he is also perfect with four stolen bases in four attempts while also playing a steady infield at either short or second base.
Commodores Win Home Opener
Curt Casali’s bases clearing double keyed a six-run fourth inning and broke a 1-1 tie as Vanderbilt went on to win its baseball season opener over Western Kentucky, 10-7, Wednesday afternoon at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores (2-3) snapped a two-game losing streak, while the Hilltoppers (1-1) lost for the first time this season. Chase Reid (1-0) gave up three runs on seven hits in a five-inning start with three strikeouts and two walks. He started the game by giving up a leadoff homer to Matt Payton, but settled down and held WKU scoreless for the next three innings.
The Commodores tied the game in the third when Jason Esposito reached on a throwing error by third baseman Wade Gaynor that also allowed Brian Harris to score from third.
Alex Hilliard opened the fourth with a walk and stole second base. Matt Marquis walked and Alex McClure laid down a perfect bunt to reach and load the bases. Harris walked allowing Hilliard to score and give the Commodores their first lead of the game. Steven Liddle lined out to short for the first out and Andrew Giobbi followed with another bases loaded walk to score Marquis. Casali then doubled to dead centerfield and cleared the bases to put VU on top 6-1. He would later score on another error by WKU to make it 7-1.
RBI singles by Chad Cregar and Wade Gaynor cut the lead to 7-3.
The Commodores got a run back in the fifth when McClure singled with one out and scored on Harris’ double to left-center to extend the lead to 8-3.
Payton’s added a RBI double in the sixth and then VU came back with two runs in the bottom half to make it 10-4. Harris walked with the bases loaded and Matt Marquis scored on a balk.
WKU plated three runs in the seventh to knock reliever Drew Hayes out of the game. Gaynor had a RBI double and Jake Wells and J.B. Paxson added RBI singles in the frame.
Richie Goodenow pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts before giving way to Sonny Gray in the ninth. Gray struck out one and allowed one hit in picking up his first collegiate save.
Harris went 2-for-3 with three RBI, with Casali and McClure added two hits of their own.
The Commodores will host Vermont in a three-game series this weekend starting on Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday’s game is set for a 2 p.m. start, while the Sunday finale is set for 1 p.m.
Mike Minor Named To National Award Watch Lists
Junior southpaw Mike Minor has garnered several mentions for national awards and preseason All-American teams.
He was named to the Golden Spikes Award and Brooks Wallace Award Watch Lists, both honors given to the top player in college baseball. Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball tabbed him a second-team preseason All-American while the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association had him on its third team.
Last season Minor tied for the team lead in wins with seven, finishing with a 7-3 record with two complete games. As a freshman in 2007, he went 9-1 and sports a 16-4 career mark into the 2009 season.
Minor served as the ace of the USA Baseball National team squad that went 24-0 over the summer and captured the FISU World University Championships in the Czech Republic in July. He went 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA during the tour with 37 strikeouts and 13 walks in a team high 36 innings.
The Chapel Hill, Tenn., native two biggest performances came against the Cuban National team in a span of a week last July. The Cuban contingent was the same team, minus one player, that captured the 2004 Olympic gold medal and was the runner-up at the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
Minor threw 6.1 innings of four-hit shutout baseball in a 1-0 win on July 6 at the Haarlem Baseball Week In Harleem, Netherlands. He followed that up in his next start by allowing just an unearned run on four hits over six innings in the gold medal clinching game of the tourney on July 13.
Minor completed his two-year National team run with an 8-2 record and a 1.17 ERA with 74 strikeouts and just 17 walks in 69 innings of action.
Vanderbilt Newcomers Among Nation’s Best
For the second time in four seasons, Vanderbilt’s baseball recruiting class has been ranked in the Top 3 in the country.
Baseball America ranked the class second in the country while Collegiate Baseball had the class ranked at No. 3. Both publications listed Arizona State as having the No. 1 class, while Collegiate Baseball had Oregon at No. 2 with a 35 member class in its first season back since being eliminated as a varsity sport after the 1980-81 season.
13 members of the class reported to school in August with three other players choosing the professional ranks. Of the 13 that are in school, eight were drafted and decided to play collegiately.
The coaching staff put together the class in anticipation of a mass exodus following the 2008 season. The Commodores lost seven offensive players who had started over the last three years, including first round draft picks Pedro Alvarez and Ryan Flaherty as well as the school’s all-time hits leader Dominic de la Osa.
Of Perfect Game’s Top 250 prospects for college, high school and Puerto Rico, 32 players from high school did not sign professional contracts and are attending Division I schools or junior colleges. Of the 32, Vanderbilt had five players, the most of any school in the country.
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt went 1-3 in its opening week of action, with all three losses by one run. The team held a lead deep into every game but was unable to close them out. The Commodores carried a 5-1 lead into the sixth inning in the opener against Stanford, only to lose 6-5 in extra innings. They had a 12-1 lead in the eighth inning of Game 2 and gave up seven runs in the inning and held on for a 12-9 win. VU had a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth against Stanford in the third game before giving up three runs in the frame to lose 6-5. Then they closed out the West Coast trip, holding a 3-2 lead in the ninth against Cal before the Bears plated two runs in their final at-bat to win 4-3 … The starting pitcher was solid throughout the week with every starter pitching into the sixth inning. Caleb Cotham picked up the lone win with a seven-inning, seven strikeout performance against Stanford in the second game of the series … Sean Bierman scattered six hits over six innings of work in his first start of the year with five strikeouts and two walks … Freshman Sonny Gray was impressive in two relief appearances pitching four scoreless innings with four strikeouts and one walk while allowing three hits … Fourth-year junior Brian Harris has become the catalyst of the offense in the leadoff spot, leading the team with a .385 batting average with a homer and four RBI. He has also shown a knack for getting on base with a .579 on-base percentage … Redshirt freshman Aaron Westlake made a nice return to his home state, going 5-for-14 (.357) on the week … Jason Esposito made his first collegiate homerun a memorable one, hitting a grand-slam in the 12-9 win over Stanford … In all five players saw their first significant action as starters over the week including true freshmen Jason Esposito and Riley Reynolds … The last time VU has started 1-3 was in 2000 under head coach Roy Mewbourne … Vanderbilt and Vermont are two of eight Division I schools that start with the letter V (Valparaiso, Villanova, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia, Virginia Tech).
Facility Upgrades Are Complete
Two seasons ago temporary bleachers were put out in right field due to Vanderbilt’s first ever NCAA regional at Hawkins Field. The success of that regional set in motion plans to add permanent bleachers from right to the left-field “Green Monster”. Those bleachers were added in the offseason along with 200 additional chairback seats down the first base line, bringing the seating capacity to 3,700. Season tickets are still available for both the chairbacks and bleacher seats. Fans can purchase them via www.vucommodores.com or via the ticket office at (615) 322-GOLD.
Also added in the Baseball Fieldhouse is a new Hall of Honor showcasing the top players and teams in Vanderbilt history. Video highlights of recent seasons are also available via a touchscreen monitor in the facility.