May 7, 2009
| Vanderbilt (29-20, 10-13 SEC) at No. 13 Georgia (33-15, 14-10) Foley Field (3,291) in Athens, Ga. |
May 8 at 6 p.m. CT
TV: None; Radio: 560 AMSonny Gray (RHP, Fr.) 3-1, 5.34vs.
Trevor Holder (RHP, Sr.) 7-2, 4.34May 9 at 12 p.m. CT
TV: CSS; Radio: 560 AMMike Minor (LHP, Jr.) 4-4, 3.93vs.
Alex McRee (LHP, Jr.) 4-1, 3.55May 10 at 1 p.m. CT
TV: None; Radio: 560 AMDrew Hayes (RHP, Jr.) 4-3, 6.17vs.
Justin Grimm (RHP, So.) 2-3, 4.42
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Series History vs. Georgia
Georgia leads 93-71 all-time in a series that dates back to 1950. UGA claimed the SEC regular season championship by taking two of three in Nashville last season. Prior to that the Commodores had won the last two series (2006, 2007).
Last Two Seasons
May 11, 2008: Georgia 12, Vanderbilt 10 (Nashville)May 10, 2008: Georgia 4, Vanderbilt 2 (10 Innings) (Nashville)
May 9, 2008: Vanderbilt 13, Georgia 7 (Nashville)
May 6, 2007: Vanderbilt 15, Georgia 4 (Athens)
May 5, 2007: Georgia 7, Vanderbilt 0 (Athens)
May 4, 2007: Vanderbilt 8, Georgia 5 (Athens)
Polls
Georgia is ranked 12th by Rivals.com, 13th by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, 14th by Collegiate Baseball and 22nd by Baseball America. Vanderbilt is not ranked.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 268-150 in his seventh season in Nashville. He is 374-288 in 13 seasons overall. He is 12-10 against the Bulldogs. Georgia’s Dave Perno is 284-199-1 in his eighth season in Athens. He is 13-12 all-time against Vanderbilt.
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. Fans can also sign up for text updates via www.twitter.com/vandybaseball and follow livestats through www.vucommodores.com.
CSS will televise Saturday’s contest. Matt Stewart (play-by-play) and former Bulldog Buck Belue (analysis) will call the action. Check local listings for availability in your area.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt finishes out its regular season road slate this weekend at No. 13 Georgia. The teams will open on Friday at 6 p.m. CT and will then play at Noon CT on Saturday, before concluding the set on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. The Saturday game will be televised regionally on CSS, check local listings for availability in your area.
Scouting Georgia
Georgia is 33-15 overall and 14-10 in Southeastern Conference play after getting swept by Florida last weekend in Athens. The series was a battle of the top two teams in the Eastern Division and the Bulldogs dropped from first to sixth in the overall standings after the weekend. UGA is a veteran club with six offensive starters and eight pitchers back from last season’s team that won the SEC regular season crown and was the NCAA runner-up to Fresno State.
Junior first baseman Rich Poythress (.406, 21 HR, 75 RBI) is a front-runner for SEC Player of the Year honors as is looking to become the first player since Rafael Palmeiro (.415, 29 HR, 94 RBI) in 1984 to win the league triple crown. He is first in batting average and RBI and is second to Alabama’s Kent Matthes (23 HR) in home runs. The Bulldogs have four players with 10 or more homers on the team and are hitting at a .308 clip with 389 runs scored in 48 games (8.1 per game).
Senior right-hander Trevor Holder (7-2, 4.34 ERA) will get the start Friday night with junior left-hander Alex McCree (4-1, 3.55 ERA) scheduled to go on Saturday. Sophomore right-hander Justin Grimm (2-3, 4.42 ERA) is slated to start in the Sunday’s series finale. Junior right-hander Dean Weaver is the team’s relief ace with nine saves to go with a 1-2 record and 2.32 ERA. He has 24 strikeouts and seven walks in 31.0 innings and has been particularly effective in league action with seven saves and a 1.10 ERA with 13 strikeouts and five walks in 16.1 innings. The team has a 4.55 team ERA with 395 strikeouts and 190 walks in 429.0 innings of work.
Liddle and Westlake Heating Up
Sophomore outfielder Steven Liddle and redshirt freshman designated hitter/first baseman Aaron Westlake have heated up offensively over the last 10 games.
Liddle is 19-for-42 (.452) with four homers, four doubles and 10 RBI in that span and is currently leading the team in SEC play with a .394 batting average, seven homers, 10 doubles and 19 RBI in 23 games. He is hitting .354 overall, with nine homers, 18 doubles (second in SEC) and 41 RBI.
Westlake is 16-for-34 (.471) with three homers, two doubles, nine RBI and seven runs scored in the last 10 contests. He is now second in the SEC in hitting, behind UGA’s Rich Poythress, with a .380 batting average with four homers and 39 RBI.
Reynolds Continues Steady Play
Freshman second baseman Riley Reynolds has been the most consistent offensive performers of the newcomers this season. Earlier in the season he had a team-best 19 game hit streak that is the third longest skein in SEC play this year. Over the last 10 games, the Missouri native has gone 13-for-34 (.382) with three doubles and four runs scored. He is currently second on the team with a .358 average, as well as in stolen bases with 11. The steady fielder has made just seven errors in 171 chances this year in 48 games at second base.
Brewer Back On Track
Sophomore hurler Russell Brewer has been strong on the mound over his last eight outings, not allowing a run of his own in 10 innings of work. He has 16 strikeouts and just two walks in that span while allowing just three hits. Two of those came in a 3.1 inning relief stint against Alabama (4/18) in which he struck out six with a walk.
He struck out the side in an inning of work against Austin Peay (4/21) and then held Louisville (4/22) in check for 1.2 innings, striking out three in hitless relief to pick up his first win on the year. Brewer struck out the lone batter he faced against Mississippi State (4/24) to pick up his third save of the year. He threw a scoreless inning of relief against South Carolina (5/3) and picked up his fourth save of the year with a scoreless inning against Belmont on Tuesday.
The North Carolina native has lowered his ERA which was at 5.19 after a start against Austin Peay on March 24, to 2.53 entering this weekend’s action against Georgia.
He now has 12 career saves good for second best all-time at Vanderbilt behind David Daniels’ 15 (1992-95).
Sonny Gray Invited To USA National Team Trials
USA Baseball recently that freshman pitcher Sonny Gray has been invited to the USA National Team Trials to be held June 15-24 in Cary, N.C.
Gray is one of five freshmen on the initial invite list of 17 players and one of seven pitchers invited nationally. The Smyrna, Tenn., native leads the Commodores with five saves while posting a 3-1 record and 5.34 ERA. He is second on the team with 17 appearances, all in relief, with 37 strikeouts and 12 walks in 32.0 innings. He struck out a career-high six batters in 2.2 innings to pick up a save in his outing against Mississippi State (4/26).
The National Team Trials will be comprised of 36 collegiate players vying for a spot on the final 22-man roster to be announced on June 24.
Vanderbilt has had a player on the USA National team the last five years dating back to the 2004 campaign. Ryan Mullins (2004), David Price (2005-06), Pedro Alvarez (2006), Casey Weathers (2006), Ryan Flaherty (2007) and Mike Minor (2007-08) all have played on Team USA over the last five years. Weathers also pitched on the 2008 Olympic Team squad that competed in Beijing last August.
Commodores Sweep Doubleheader Over Belmont
Vanderbilt used a four-run fifth inning in game one and a complete game shutout in game two to sweep a doubleheader over Belmont, 8-6 and 3-0, Tuesday night at Hawkins Field.
Senior Nick Christiani pitched a complete-game five-hit shutout in the second game with seven strikeouts and one walk to move to 5-3 on the year.
VU took a 2-0 lead in the second inning of game two when Aaron Westlake singled and Andrew Giobbi doubled before Jason Esposito brought both home with a double down the left field line.
The Dores added another run in the fourth when Esposito singled to left and advanced to second when the leftfielder misplayed the ball. Joe Loftus then brought him home with a single to right to make it 3-0.
Westlake and Esposito each had two hits in the second game of the twinbill.
Frank Adelman also went the distance for Belmont in the nightcap, allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits in six innings of work with two strikeouts and a walk.
The Commodores broke open a 4-4 game with four runs in the fourth and then held on late for the 8-6 win in game one.
VU loaded the bases in fifth with no outs as Aaron Westlake singled, Andrew Giobbi walked and Jason Esposito was hit by a pitch. Jonathan White struck out and Joe Loftus popped out before Brian Harris was hit by a pitch to bring in the go ahead run. Riley Reynolds followed with a two-run single and Steven Liddle capped the inning off with a RBI single up the middle.
Belmont scored a run in the sixth on Packy Elkins solo homer and another on a RBI double by Brandon McCall in the seventh to cut the lead to 8-6. Russell Brewer came on in relief of starter Taylor Hill and retired the three batters he faced to end the game and pick up his fourth save of the year.
Hill (2-1) allowed six runs on 12 hits in six innings with five strikeouts and two walks in the winning effort.
Riley Reynolds led the offense with a 4-for-4 game and three RBI. Andrew Giobbi added two hits and two RBI as the only other hitter with a multi-hit showing in game one.
Derek Wiley’s RBI double in the first gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead. VU responded with two runs in the bottom half on Giobbi’s single up the middle.
Belmont scored another run in the second on Dylan Craig’s RBI single, but VU responded with two more runs in the bottom half on a Reynolds RBI single and a sacrifice fly RBI by Curt Casali to make it 4-2.
The Bruins scored a run in the third on Derek Hamblen’s RBI double and another in the fourth on Daniel Wagner’s RBI infield single to tie the game at 4-4.
Commodore Tidbits (5/4)
Vanderbilt went 0-3 on the week losing a weekend series to South Carolina in Columbia … It was the first series loss to the Gamecocks since the 2004 season and first time SC has swept them since 2003. The last four Commodore series this season have ended up in sweeps. VU swept Arkansas (2 games; April 10-11), got swept by Alabama (April 17-18), swept Mississippi State (April 24-26) and got swept at South Carolina (May 1-3) … The Commodores hit .276 in the SC series with four homers, four doubles and 13 runs scored … Steven Liddle went 8-for-13 (.615) with two homers, two RBI and four runs scored … Aaron Westlake was 5-for-10 with a homer, RBI and two runs scored … Jonathan White went 5-for-12 (.417) with a homer, two RBI and two runs scored … The pitching staff sported a 12.00 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 10 walks in 24.0 innings. The Gamecocks hit .385 with 10 homers and 33 runs in the three games … Nick Christiani gave up an unearned run on one hit in 1.1 innings of relief on Friday … Mark Lamm pitched a scoreless inning on Saturday in his first action since March 18 against Belmont … Jack Armstrong also saw his first action since that Belmont contest, with a scoreless inning on Friday … Russell Brewer closed out the series with an inning of scoreless relief on Sunday. He has now thrown nine consecutive scoreless innings of relief in his last seven appearances … Mike Minor had a string of four consecutive double-digit strikeout starts end when he struck out just one Gamecock on Friday … VU added a doubleheader against Belmont on Tuesday and will then close out the road portion of the regular season at Georgia over the weekend.
Minor And Christiani Move Up Commodore Record Books
Last season Pedro Alvarez and Dominic de la Osa were chasing Vanderbilt offensive history. This season junior Mike Minor and senior Nick Christiani are moving up the pitching charts. Minor enters the weekend with 20 career victories, tied for ninth all-time, while Christiani moved into the Top 10 with his 19th career win after Tuesday’s complete game gem over Belmont. Minor is also in the Top 10 in strikeouts (268-5th) and innings pitched (266.2-10th).
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.