April 16, 2009
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Alabama (24-13, 7-8 SEC) at Vanderbilt (23-13, 7-7) — Hawkins Field (3,700)
Friday, April 17 at 6 p.m. CT; Saturday, April 18 at 3 p.m.; Sunday, April 19 at 1 p.m.
Series History vs. Alabama
Alabama leads 79-45-2 in a series that dates back to 1893. The Crimson Tide claimed a 2-1 series win last year in Tuscaloosa. UA owns a 22-19 all-time lead in games played in Nashville.
Last Two Seasons
March 23, 2008: Alabama 10, Vanderbilt 3 (Tuscaloosa)
March 22, 2008: Alabama 9, Vanderbilt 7 (Tuscaloosa)
March 21, 2008: Vanderbilt 2, Alabama 1 (Tuscaloosa)
April 8, 2007: Alabama 5, Vanderbilt 3 (10) (Nashville)
April 7, 2007: Vanderbilt 4, Alabama 2 (Nashville)
April 6, 2007: Vanderbilt 3, Alabama 0 (Nashville)
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 28 by Collegiate Baseball. Alabama is unranked this week.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 262-143 in his seventh season in Nashville. He is 368-281 in 13 seasons overall. He is 7-8 against the Crimson Tide. Alabama’s Jim Wells is 612-313 in his 15th season in Tuscaloosa and 806-402 in 20 seasons as a head coach. He is 22-11 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 all three games this weekend can be accessed for free through www.vucommodores.com. Fans can also sign up for text updates via www.twitter.com/vandybaseball and follow live stats through www.vucommodores.com.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt completes a five-game homestand this weekend as Alabama comes to town for a pivotal Southeastern Conference three-game series. The teams will hook up on Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m., before closing things out on Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets for all three contests are available through the Vanderbilt Ticket Office at (615) 322-GOLD or online at www.vucommodores.com.
Scouting Alabama
Alabama is 24-13 overall and 7-8 in SEC play after dropping two of three to LSU at home last weekend in Tuscaloosa. The Tide completed a suspended game against UAB on Monday and came away with a 10-6 win. They pounded Mississippi Valley State, 10-1, on Tuesday before losing to Samford, 14-13 in 10 innings, on Wednesday.
Alabama has the most potent offense in the SEC as the team leads the league in nine offensive categories. They are hitting .345 as a team with 76 homers, 97 doubles and 354 runs scored in 37 games (9.6 per game). Freshman Taylor Dugas leads the team with a .404 batting average and had a 23-game hit streak earlier in the year (longest in SEC this season). Senior outfielder Kent Matthes is the NCAA leader in homers with 20 entering the weekend. He is batting .394 with 58 RBI as well and is slugging at an incredible .976 clip.
Right-hander Austin Wyatt (5-1, 3.09 ERA) will start in the opener Friday night, with left-hander Del Howell (4-1, 4.03 ERA) scheduled to go on Saturday. Southpaw Adam Morgan (3-1, 3.73 ERA) is scheduled to close the series out with the start on Sunday. The team sports a 4.53 ERA, with 328 strikeouts and 107 walks in 324.0 innings.
Mike Minor Named SEC Pitcher of the Week
Junior pitcher Mike Minor was named Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday after dominating then No. 1 Arkansas in a 9-0 win last Friday night in Fayetteville. He held the Razorbacks to just four hits (all singles) in eight innings of work with 11 strikeouts and three walks in moving to 3-3 on the year.
His dominating performance handed the Razorbacks their first Friday night loss of the year (7-0 entering the weekend).
Minor allowed a single in the fourth, two more in the seventh and another in the eighth before retiring for the evening.
Over his last three starts he has recorded 31 strikeouts with just five walks in 22.0 innings against Auburn, Florida and Arkansas.
This is the first pitcher of the week honor for Minor and the Commodores first since David Price won it in the 2007 campaign.
Reynolds Wrap
Riley Reynolds has a pretty strong start to his collegiate career as he enters the weekend third on the team in hitting with a .350 batting average. One of four freshmen in the everyday lineup, Reynolds has been very reliable and has an 18-game hit streak that is the longest active skein in the SEC.
Over the last five games the Missouri product is hitting 7-for-17 (.412) with a double, six RBI and six runs scored while playing error free defense at second in 16 chances.
Pitching Staff Comes On
Since an 8-0 loss to Middle Tennessee on April 7, the Vanderbilt pitching staff has put together an impressive run over the last four games, going 4-0 with two shutouts and a 3.25 ERA. The trio of Mike Minor, Caleb Cotham and Drew Hayes have combined to go 3-0 with 29 strikeouts and six walks in 20 innings in starting efforts.
All total the staff has recorded 49 strikeouts with 12 walks in 36.0 innings, while limiting opponents to just a .217 batting average. With Wednesday’s shutout of Morehead State, the team has surpassed last season’s total of two shutouts.
Dores Exact Revenge With 15-7 Win Over Middle Tennessee
Vanderbilt scored seven runs in the fifth inning to rally from a 5-4 deficit and went on to a 15-7 win over Middle Tennessee Tuesday night at Hawkins Field.
Curt Casali walked to lead off the fifth and moved to third on a single by Aaron Westlake. Jason Esposito hit a RBI single that bounced off the pitcher and stayed in the infield. Joe Loftus then doubled to right-center to score Westlake. Brian Harris walked, Esposito scored on a wild pitch and Riley Reynolds added a sacrifice bunt RBI to make it 8-4. Andrew Giobbi then capped off the inning with a three-run homer to left-center, his second round-tripper of the year.
VU added two more runs in the sixth with Giobbi adding a RBI single. He finished the night 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored.
MTSU scored a run in the seventh on Bryce Brentz’ solo homer to straight-away center, his 16th blast of the season. He finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored to lead the Blue Raiders.
Riley Reynolds extended his hit streak to 17 games with a RBI double in the eighth. He later scored on a fielding error to close out the 15 run, 15 hit night for the Dores.
Sonny Gray moved to 3-0 after allowing one run on four hits in 1.2 innings of relief with three strikeouts and a walk. Richie Goodenow made his first collegiate start and gave up four runs on five hits in a career-high 3.1 innings with three walks and two strikeouts.
Sean Bierman allowed one run on one hit in three innings of relief with four strikeouts and a walk and Taylor Hill closed out the game allowing a run on a Brentz RBI double while striking out three.
Joe Loftus added three hits, while Aaron Westlake, Jason Esposito and Alex McClure each had two hits in the winning effort.
The Blue Raiders jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, scoring all of the runs with two outs against VU starter Richie Goodenow. Rawley Bishop had a RBI single, Ben Darlington a RBI double and Ben Hudson a RBI single to account for the runs.
The Commodores, who were shutout 8-0 last Tuesday in Murfreesboro, rallied right back to tie the game in the bottom half. Andrew Giobbi led off with a single, stole second with one out and scored on Aaron Westlake’s RBI single to left-center. Westlake scored on a RBI single by Jason Esposito and Joe Loftus drove in the third run with a double to left-center.
VU took a 4-3 lead in the third when Steven Liddle walked, moved to third on a single by Curt Casali and scored on Westlake’s sacrifice fly RBI to right.
The Blue Raiders scored two runs in the fourth to take a 5-4 lead on a RBI triple by Nathan Hines and a RBI single by Bryce Brentz.
Dores Shut Out Morehead State 8-0
Drew Hayes, Nick Christiani, Chase Reid and Russell Brewer combined on a five-hit shutout in an 8-0 win over Morehead State Wednesday night at Hawkins Field.
Hayes allowed just three hits in five innings of work with six strikeouts and two walks to improve to 3-2 on the year. Christiani pitched two innings, allowing two hits, with three strikeouts and Reid and Brewer closed out it out with an inning of hitless relief.
It was the second shutout in four games for the Dores and the third shutout of the season.
VU took a 2-0 lead in the first on a RBI single by Curt Casali and a fielder’s choice RBI by Jason Esposito. They added another run in the second on a sacrifice fly RBI by Drew Fann.
The Commodores added another run in the fourth on a RBI single by Riley Reynolds. It extended his hit streak to 18 games on the year.
Vanderbilt scored three runs in the sixth, one on a wild pitch, another on a passed ball and a third on a RBI single by Fann to make it 7-0. Joe Loftus closed out the scoring in the seventh with a RBI single to left.
Drew Fann had two hits and two RBI and Aaron Westlake added two hits to lead the 10-hit attack.
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 seven of his nine starts on the year including in his last four starts against Kentucky (7.0), Auburn (7.0), Florida (7.0), and Arkansas (8.0). 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.
Commodore Tidbits (4/13)
Vanderbilt went 2-1 last week to move 21-13 overall and 7-7 in Southeastern Conference … The Commodores lost a midweek game at Middle Tennessee on Tuesday, but rebounded with two wins over No. 1 Arkansas over the weekend. The wins were the first over a No. 1 ranked team since VU beat Rice in the season opener in 2007 … The Commodores have now won five straight games against Arkansas dating back to the 2007 SEC Tournament championship game. The series win was the first ever in Fayetteville, as the team was 5-13 in six previous trips … VU won its second straight SEC series and has won four straight league games to even its record at 7-7 for the first time on the year … The starting duo of Mike Minor and Caleb Cotham held the Razorbacks in check in two games, recording 23 strikeouts with just four walks in 15.0 innings. Minor allowed just four hits in eight innings on Friday with 11 strikeouts and three walks. Cotham carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning on Saturday, before giving up back-to-back solo homers to end the scoreless run. He ended up allowing four runs on five hits in seven innings with a career-best 12 strikeouts and one walk in his second straight SEC win … As a team, VU sported a 4.15 ERA in three games with 38 strikeouts and eight walks in 26.0 innings … The Commodores hit .298 on the week with a homer, six doubles and 22 runs scored … Against Arkansas, VU hit .338 and outscored the Razorbacks 22-6 … Freshman Riley Reynolds extended his hit streak to 16 games with a hit in all four games on the week. He went 4-for-8 with two runs and three RBI against Arkansas … Steven Liddle went 4-for-8 with a double, homer, four RBI and three runs scored on the weekend … Curt Casali went 3-for-7 (.429) and Joe Loftus (4-for-10) with a double, two RBI and three runs scored against UA … Jonathan White got the start in all three games in center and went 4-for-12 with a RBI and two runs scored … Jason Esposito stole a career best three bases in the 9-0 win over Arkansas on Friday. He now leads the team with 16 stolen bases in 19 attempts.
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.