April 9, 2009
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Live Webcasts, Live Audio & Live Stats | 2009 Stats | Game Notes | TV: See Below | Radio: 560 AM
Vanderbilt (19-13, 5-7 SEC) at No. 1 Arkansas (24-6, 10-2 SEC) – Baum Stadium (10,737)
Friday, April 10 at 6:35 p.m. CT; Saturday, April 11 at 3:05 p.m. (FSN); Sunday, April 12 at 1:05 p.m.
Series History vs. Arkansas
Arkansas leads 25-13 in a series that dates back to 1970. Last season was the first time in the 12 years of three-game series that the Commodores were able to claim the SEC series win. VU has never won a series in Fayetteville in six previous trips (5-13).
Last Two Seasons
March 30, 2008: Vanderbilt 6, Arkansas 2 (Nashville)
March 29, 2008: Vanderbilt 6, Arkansas 5 (Nashville)
May 27, 2007: Vanderbilt 7, Arkansas 4 (SEC Championship Game)
March 25, 2007: Arkansas 8, Vanderbilt 3 (Fayetteville)
March 24, 2007: Vanderbilt 6, Arkansas 3 (Fayetteville)
March 23, 2007: Arkansas 8, Vanderbilt 7 (10) (Fayetteville)
Polls
Vanderbilt is not ranked. Arkansas is ranked No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 7 by RIvals.com, No. 9 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 12 by Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 258-143 in his seventh season in Nashville. He is 364-281 in 13 seasons overall. He is 8-11 against the Razorbacks. Arkansas’ Dave Van Horn is 259-1 in his seventh season in Fayetteville and 820-374 in 21 seasosn as a head coach. He is 11-8 against the Commodores.
Radio/TV/Internet
All three contests can be heard in the Nashville area on 560 AM WNSR and on the internet via www.vucommodores.com. Joe Fisher will call all the action. Live webcasts for Friday and Sunday can be accessed through www.hogwired.com. There is a fee to access it. Fans can also sign up for text updates via www.twitter.com/vandybaseball and follow livestats through www.vucommodores.com.
In addition, Saturday’s contest will be broadcast regionally on Fox Sports Net. Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Larry Conley (analysis) will call the action.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt will complete a stretch of three of four Southeastern Conference series on the road this weekend against newly named No. 1 Arkansas in Fayetteville. The Commodores will take on the red-hot Razorbacks on Friday at 6:35 p.m. CT and Saturday at 3:05 p.m. before closing the set out on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Saturday’s game will be televised regionally on Fox Sports Net, check local listings for broadcast information.
Scouting Arkansas
Arkansas is 24-6 overall and a SEC best 10-2 after taking two of three at South Carolina last weekend. The Razorbacks were named No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball on Monday and took on Arizona State in a two-game midweek series at Baum Stadium. The Sun Devils were ranked No. 1 as well in three separate polls: Baseball America, USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and the in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll. Arkansas trailed in both contests but rallied to beat ASU twice, 7-3 and 8-7, to sweep the series.
The Razorbacks have five starters returning from last year, led by outfielder Chase Leavitt who leads the team with a .380 batting average to go with nine doubles and 27 walks and a .533 on base percentage. First baseman Andy Wilkins and second baseman Ben Tschepikow are the top power hitters with nine and seven homers respectively. As a team UA is batting .291 with 34 homers and 207 runs scored (6.9 per game).
Left-hander Dalas Keuchel (5-0, 3.45 ERA) will start in the opener Friday night, with right-hander T.J. Forrest (2-2, 4.32 ERA) scheduled to go on Saturday. Right-hander Justin Wells (1-0, 3.51 ERA) is scheduled to close the series out with his first start of the season on Sunday. Left-hander Stephen Richards (4-0, 1.27 ERA) is the team’s closer with six saves and 29 strikeouts and 10 walks in 21.1 innings The team sports a 4.03 ERA, fourth best in SEC, with 257 strikeouts and 103 walks in 268.0 innings.
Gray Named SEC Freshman of the Week
Freshman pitcher Sonny Gray was named Southeastern Conference freshman of the week after helping lead the Commodores to a series win over No. 19 Florida over the weekend.
The Smyrna, Tenn., native earned a save and picked up a win in the Commodores first SEC series win of the year. Gray picked up the save, his fourth of the year, with an inning of scoreless relief in Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Gators. He then came on in the eighth in Sunday’s 9-9 tie game and held Florida in check, limiting them to just one hit in two innings with three strikeouts. He went 1-0 with a save in two appearances on the week with four strikeouts and one walk in three innings of work. He was the lone Commodore pitcher to not allow a run against the Gators.
On the season he is 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA and has 19 strikeouts and eight walks in 19.2 innings over 12 relief appearances.
This is the second SEC Freshman of the Week award for the Commodores, as Aaron Westlake took home the honor earlier in the year.
Casali Comes On
Over the last 10 games Curt Casali has become a driving force in the Commodores lineup. Casali is hitting at a .395 clip (15-for-38) with four doubles, a homer, eight RBI and 12 runs scored in that span. He recorded his first collegiate stolen base when he stole home against Auburn on March 27 and his two-run double in the seventh inning last Sunday against Florida helped spark the Dores comeback from a 9-2 deficit.
On the season, the Connecticut native is second on the team with a .359 batting average and leads the team in homers (6) and RBI (34). The sophomore was expected to be the full-time starter behind the plate, but an arm injury prior to the season, forced him to make the move to first where he will likely play the rest of the season.
Giobbi Returns
Junior catcher Andrew Giobbi returned to full-time action against Auburn two weeks ago after missing 16 games due to a broken hand suffered against Vermont on Feb. 27. Giobbi played right field all three games against Auburn and then returned to his normal spot behind the plate against Florida last weekend. Since his return he has heated up offensively going 12-for-31 (.387) with a homer, double, triple and eight RBI in eight starts games. His average has risen from .160 before the injury to .286 entering this weekend’s action.
Minor Makes Move
In a season full of ups and downs, one of the pitchers who has remained consistent is junior southpaw Mike Minor. The Chapel Hill native has gone a minimum of seven innings in six of his eight starts on the year including seven innings in his last three starts against Kentucky, Auburn and Florida. He went 5.2 innings in his first start of the season against Stanford and left the game with a 5-1 lead that was later relinquished. On March 27 against Auburn, he limited the league’s leading home run team to just five singles in a 12-3 win over the Tigers. He struck out 11, one short of his career high of 12 against Alabama last season. In his last three starts, Minor has allowed 23 strikeouts and four walks in 21.0 innings.
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 18-7 career mark into the Arkansas series.
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.
Dores Blanked By Middle Tennessee
Chad Edwards pitched a complete game shutout and Bryce Brentz went 4-for-4 with two homers and five RBI to lead Middle Tennessee to an 8-0 win over Vanderbilt Tuesday night at Reese Smith Field.
The Commodores dropped to 19-13 with the loss while the Blue Raiders moved to 22-7 on the year.
Edwards (5-0) held VU in check the entire game, limiting the team to just six hits while striking out three and walking three in MTSU’s first complete game shutout since the 2001 season.
Middle Tennessee had 13 hits with Brentz, who came in hitting at a .448 clip with 13 homers, leading the offensive attack.
Drew Fann, making a return to his hometown, led VU with two hits on the night.
The Blue Raiders took a 1-0 lead in the first when Tyler Burnett led off with a single and moved to third on a failed pick off attempt by starter Nick Christiani that went into right field. Bryce Brentz brought him home with a RBI single to center.
MTSU added two more runs in the fourth on Drew Robertson’s single to center with runners on second and third with two outs.
Brentz continued his hot night with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth with two outs in the inning and then added a solo shot off of reliever Drew Hayes in the seventh to extend the lead to 6-0.
Christiani (3-2) allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits in five innings of work with seven strikeouts and two walks in the losing effort.
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt went 2-2 last week and are now 19-13 on the season … VU has lost its last two midweek games after opening the year 7-0 in such contests … The Commodores lost their first midweek game of the season, but rebounded to take their first Southeastern Conference series of the year against No. 19 Florida. The series win was the first in league action since sweeping Tennessee last year and the first home conference series win since defeating Auburn last year (April 18-20) … VU rallied back from a seven run deficit, 9-2, in the sixth inning on Sunday, scoring 14 unanswered to win 16-9. Till that point the team had just five hits and two runs, one unearned. They finished with 16 hits, 11 coming in final three innings … The Dores hit .263 on the week with four homers, two triples, six doubles and 30 runs scored (7.5 per game) … Curt Casali had big week going 7-for-15 (.467) with two doubles, a homer, six runs scored and four RBI … Andrew Giobbi continued to be on a tear since returning from a broken hand. He went 6-for-13 (.462) with a double, triple, five RBI and four runs scored. In the seven games he has been back in the starting lineup he is 12-for-27 with a double, triple, homer, eight RBI and six runs scored … Steven Liddle had a hit in all four games to extend his hitting streak to eight. He went 6-for-17 (.353) with two doubles, a homer and four RBI with six runs scored … Also extending a hit streak was Riley Reynolds who now has a 14 game skein. He was 6-for-19 (.316) with a double on the week … The pitching staff sported a 7.97 ERA with 35 strikeouts and 14 walks in 35.0 innings … Caleb Cotham picked up his first SEC win of the year in Saturday’s 4-3 win. He gave up three runs, one earned, on four hits in eight innings with six strikeouts and five walks. He leads the SEC in opponents batting average at .188 … Sonny Gray played the key role on the mound in the series win over Florida. He picked up the save, his fourth of the year, with an inning of scoreless relief in Saturday’s. He then came on in the eighth in Sunday’s 9-9 tie game and held Florida in check, limiting them to just one hit in two innings with three strikeouts. He went 1-0 with a save in two appearances on the week with four strikeouts and one walk in three innings of work. He was the lone Commodore pitcher to not allow a run against the Gators … Freshman Grayson Garvin pitched two innings of scoreless relief against Belmont last Tuesday. He allowed just one single, while striking out three and walking one … VU plays four games on the road this week and will then return home to play eight of 10 to close out the month of April.
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 and single-game tickets are 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.