March 5, 2009
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Illinois-Chicago (0-6) at Vanderbilt (6-3) — Hawkins Field (3,700) in Nashville, Tenn.
Thursday, March 5 – 4 p.m. CT: Adam Worthington (Senior, R, 0-1, 1.17) vs. Mike Minor (Junior, L, 1-0, 2.70)
Friday, March 6 – 4 p.m. CT: Chris Kovacevich (Junior, L, (0-2, 4.85) vs. Caleb Cotham (Soph., R, 2-0, 1.80)
Saturday, March 7 – 2 p.m. CT: Mike Kool (Senior, R, 0-2, 10.12) vs. Nick Christiani (Senior, R, 1-0, 3.00)
Sunday, March 8 – 12 p.m. CT: TBA vs. Sean Bierman (Soph., L, 0-1, 1.50)
Series History vs UIC
Vanderbilt holds a 6-3 all-time series advantage over the Flames. This is the third straight year the teams have met in a non-conference series. VU swept the three-game set in 2007 and took two of three last year.
Last Two Years
March 9, 2008: Vanderbilt 9, UIC 3 (Nashville)
March 7, 2008: Vanderbilt 5, UIC 4 (Nashville)
March 6, 2008: UIC 2, Vanderbilt 1 (Nashville)
March 11, 2007: Vanderbilt 14, UIC 5 (Nashville)
March 10, 2007: Vanderbilt 1, UIC 0 (Nashville)
March 9, 2007: Vanderbilt 2, UIC 1 (Nashville)
Polls
Neither Vanderbilt nor UIC are ranked in this week’s polls.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 245-133 in his seventh season in Nashville. He is 351-271 in 13 seasons overall. He is 5-1 against UIC. UIC’s Mike Dee is 339-229-1 in his 11th season as the Flames’ skipper. He is 1-5 against VU.
Radio/TV/Internet
The Thursday, Friday and Saturday contests can be watched and listened to via a free webcast on www.vucommodores.com. Sunday’s contest will be an audio only broadcast via the website. Eric Jones will call the action. Live stats can also be accessed through www.vucommodores.com. Fans can also sign up for text updates via www.twitter.com/vandybaseball
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt will close out its nine-game homestand this weekend with a four-game series against UIC. The Commodores and Flames will open play on Thursday at 4 p.m. and will play at the same time on Friday. The teams will play a 2 p.m. game on Saturday before closing out the series on Sunday at noon. Single game tickets and season tickets are available and can be purchased on-line at www.vucommodores.com or via the telephone (615) 322-GOLD.
Scouting UIC
Vanderbilt and UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) will play for the third straight season. The Flames have had a tough start to the season and enter the series with a 0-6 record after losing two games to Alabama over the weekend. After getting swept in a four-game series to Texas to open the season, they were supposed to play four games against the Crimson Tide but rain and snow shortened the series to just two. In all they were going to play 12 games on the road, including the four-games against VU, before playing their first home game against Northwestern on March 12.
The Flames enter the 2009 season having won seven consecutive Horizon League regular season championships and two straight Horizon League tournament titles (giving the Flames four tourney crowns in the last six seasons). UIC has advanced to NCAA Regional play four times since 2003 (2003, 2005, 2007, 2008).
UIC returns 23 members of last year’s roster, including 17 letterwinners, eight starting position players and four pitchers who started at least four games last season.
Infielder Andy Leonard leads the team with a .350 batting average with three doubles, a homer and two RBI. He is the lone player hitting over .300, as the team sports a .150 batting average with nine runs scored in six games (1.5 per game).
Right-hander Adam Worthington (0-1, 1.17 ERA) will start on Thursday, left-hander Chris Kovacevich (0-2, 4.85 ERA) on Friday and right-hander Mike Kool (0-2, 10.12 ERA) on Sunday. UIC has a staff ERA of 6.85 with just 10 strikeouts and 20 walks in 46.0 innings.
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 nine games of the season. Each starter has gone five or more innings heading into the UIC series. The group (Mike Minor, Caleb Cotham, Nick Christiani, Sean Bierman, Chase Reid and Taylor Hill) are 6-0 with a 2.83 ERA and have struck out 50 batters to just 14 walks in 57.1 innings. This should be an area that gets even stronger as the season progresses and as they go deeper into contests.
Relievers Coming On Strong
The relief-pitching core has also made strides in the five games at home, having posted a 1.46 ERA with just two earned runs allowed in 12.1 innings of work. In fact seven of the eight pitchers that have come on in relief have not given up a run at all. As a group they have struck out 16 batters with just three walks and opponents are hitting just .191 against them at Hawkins Field.
Aaron Westlake Named SEC Freshman of the Week
Catcher Aaron Westlake was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week after hitting .667 in five games last week.
Westlake was a torrid 10-for-15 (.667) in five games on the week with three doubles, three RBI and six runs scored. He walked three times and struck out just once and boasted a .867 slugging percentage with a .684 on base percentage.
The Redding, Calif., native started behind the plate for the first time in his career at any level on Saturday against Vermont. He did not make an error on the week in 27 chances and he caught a no-hitter for 6.2 innings in his first start at catcher.
He went 4-for-4 against the Catamounts last Friday and recorded two more hits in his first two at-bats on Saturday before ending his streak of six straight hits with a pop up to second in the fifth inning. Westlake finished with four hits again on Saturday and then added two more hits in three at-bats on Sunday. He is currently third in the SEC with a .548 batting average after collecting two hits and four RBI in Tuesday’s win over Lipscomb.
Offense Uses Patient Approach
If the first nine games of the season are an indication of things to come, this year’s Vanderbilt squad could surpass the 300-walk plateau for the first time since the 1989 season. That year’s team walked a school record 322 times in 54 games, while this year’s team is on pace for an even 300 (50 in nine games thus far). Even more impressive is the fact that they have struck out just 41 times, an average of just 4.6 per game. For comparison, last season’s team struck out 414 times in 63 games, an average of 6.6 times per game. The players have been hit by a pitch 17 times, and sport a .443 on base percentage, both numbers among the leaders in the SEC.
Commodores Defeat Lipscomb
Four Vanderbilt pitchers, led by starter Taylor Hill, limited Lipscomb to just four hits in a 10-3 win in baseball action Tuesday evening at Hawkins Field.
The Commodores (6-3) won their fifth straight game and third straight over the Bison (3-5).
Taylor Hill (1-0) held Lipscomb to just four hits in six innings of work and gave up three earned runs with six strikeouts and no walks. Drew Hayes, Russell Brewer and Sonny Gray each pitched an inning of hitless, scoreless relief.
Vanderbilt scored 10 or more runs for the third straight game and finished with nine hits in the contest. Brian Harris had two hits and scored three runs from the leadoff spot, while Aaron Westlake chipped in with two hits and a career high four RBI. Freshman Jason Esposito rounded out the multi-hit contingent with two hits of his own.
Brian Harris and Steven Liddle had back-to-back singles to leadoff the bottom of the first with Harris going to third on Liddle’s hit. Curt Casali hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Harris and give VU an early 1-0 lead.
Lipscomb got on the board in the third on Brad Gooch’s solo homer off of Hill to tie the game.
Vanderbilt plated two runs in the four when Casali led off with a single and scored on Esposito’s triple to left-center. A throwing error on a Joe Loftus grounder to short allowed Esposito to score to make it 3-2.
The Bison plated a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Jay Moreland to make it 3-2, but the Commodores scored two more runs in the bottom half to extend the lead to 5-2. Riley Reynolds reached on an error to third and Brian Harris walked to lead off the inning. Steven Liddle sacrificed both over on a bunt to third and Curt Casali followed with a walk to load the bases. Aaron Westlake then came through with a two-run double to left to plate Reynolds and Liddle.
Lipscomb came back with a run in the sixth on a RBI single by Justin Sanders to make it 5-3, but the Commodores responded yet again, this time with a five-run inning to put the game away. The big hits in the inning were a RBI single by Harris, a two-run single by Westlake and a RBI single by Jason Esposito.
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt went 4-0 last week, scoring in double digits in three of the four wins … Offensively the team batted .386 on the week with 15 doubles, 45 runs scored, 30 walks and just 12 strikeouts in 132 at-bats (.500 on base percentage) … Aaron Westlake was torrid at the plate collecting a hit 10 times in 13 at bats (.769) with three doubles, two RBI and six runs scored with a walk and a .733 on base percentage. He moved to catcher for the first time ever against Vermont on Saturday and started two games behind the plate … Steven Liddle went 8-for-13 (.615) with two doubles, a triple, six RBI and six runs scored. He walked five times and struck out once (.684 fielding percentage) … Freshman Riley Reynolds went 4-for-7 (.571) with six runs scored and had five walks and four stolen bases in five attempts in four games, three starts. He stole three bases in Sunday’s win over Vermont … Another freshman, Jason Esposito, went 6-for-15 (.400) with two doubles and three RBI … Pitching wise, all four starters went a minimum of five innings, with three going six-plus … Caleb Cotham held Vermont hitless and scoreless for 6.2 innings before giving up a RBI single in the seventh inning of Saturday’s win. He ended up giving up three runs, two earned, on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks … Nick Christiani (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 8 SO, 1BB) and Mike Minor (7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 4 SO, 3 BB) also had quality starts over the weekend … Seven other pitchers had at least an inning of scoreless relief with Sonny Gray (Western Kentucky) and Russell Brewer (Vermont, Game 1) picking up saves … Grayson Garvin (Vermont, Game 2), Mark Lamm (Vermont, Game 3) and Navery Moore (Vermont, Game 3) each saw their first action of the year and pitched an inning of scoreless relief … As a team the staff posted a 2.50 ERA with 33 strikeouts and nine walks in 36.0 innings … Junior catcher Andrew Giobbi suffered a broken hand in his first at bat against Vermont Friday night and is expected to miss a minimum of four weeks. Aaron Westlake will start behind the plate until he gets back … The Commodores will play five games in six days against 2008 NCAA Tournament clubs in Lipscomb and Illinois-Chicago.
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 it’s 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.
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.