May 24, 2009
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SEC Tournament Recaps
Saturday: [8] Vanderbilt 11, [7] Arkansas 1 (7)
Thursday: [8] Vanderbilt 5, [5] South Carolina 4
Wednesday: [8] Vanderbilt 4, [1] LSU 1
Series History vs. LSU
LSU leads 48-31 in a series that dates back to 1954. The Commodores have won six of the last seven meetings dating back to the 2006 season. Sunday’s contest will be the fifth time the teams have met in the SEC tourney, with the Commodores win on Wednesday the first in four tries against the Tigers.
Recent Results
May 24, 2009: Vanderbilt 4, LSU 1 (Hoover, Ala.)
May 22, 2008: LSU 8, Vanderbilt 2 (Hoover, Ala.)
May 19, 2007: Vanderbilt 4, LSU 1 (Nashville)
May 18, 2007: Vanderbilt 6, LSU 2 (Nashville)
May 17, 2007: Vanderbilt 6, LSU 2 (Nashville)
May 14, 2006: Vanderbilt 8, LSU 4 (Baton Rouge)
May 13, 2006: Vanderbilt 19, LSU 4 (Baton Rouge)
May 12, 2006: LSU 4, Vanderbilt 3 (Baton Rouge)
Polls
LSU is ranked No. 2 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers, Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America and Rivals.com, and No. 3 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Vanderbilt is not ranked.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 273-154 in his seventh season in Nashville. He is 379-292 in 13 seasons overall. He is 10-7 against the Tigers. LSU’s Paul Manieri is 123-61-2 in his third season in Baton Rouge and is 987-553-6 in 27 seasons overall. He is 2-4 against Vanderbilt.
Radio/TV/Internet
The SEC Tournament Championship Game 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. SECSports.com will have a live webcast of the championship game. FSN will televise the contest on a tape delayed basis at 3 p.m. with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Larry Conley (analysis) calling the game.
Commodores Recent Success In SEC Tourney
For the fourth time in six seasons Vanderbilt has reached the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game. The Commodores lost to South Carolina in 2004 and to Ole Miss in 2006, before breaking through against Arkansas in 2007. In that season VU lost its first game against Tennessee before storming back for five straight wins to capture the crown. In doing so, it became the first team since Alabama in 1996 to win both the regular season and conference tourney trophies.
Last season the Dores went all the way to an elimination game on Saturday, but fell to Ole Miss ending the chance of a repeat.
The Commodores are making their sixth SEC postseason appearance in seven years under VU head coach Tim Corbin. Prior to the 2007 title, the Commodores lone tourney win came in 1980. VU is 30-22 overall in 13 previous appearances and 2-4 in championship games. The Commodores are just the second No. 8 seed to reach the title game (Ole Miss in 2008) and are trying to become the first to win it.
Championship Game Starter Nick Christiani (5-5, 4.94 ERA)
Senior right-hander Nick Christiani is the most experienced pitcher on the Vanderbilt staff. He is the only player on the roster that has been active during the run of three championship game appearances in four years dating back to 2006.
He is 11th on the Vanderbilt career wins list with 19 (19-15, 4.69 ERA) and has 222 strikeouts and 93 walks in 245.2 innings pitched. The New Jersey native will be making his 35th career start and second SEC tourney start. He went 6.1 innings against South Carolina on May 23, 2008 and allowed one run on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks in the winning effort. Christiani is 1-1 in three tournament appearances with a 3.48 ERA.
Who’s Hot
Andrew Giobbi is hitting .667 (8-for-12) in the tourney with two homers, a double and four RBI … Jonathan White is hitting .500 (6-for-12) with a double, two RBI and three runs scored. He has made his two RBI count as the first brought in the game-winning run against South Carolina (5/23) and the second ended the game against Arkansas (5/24) … Steven Liddle, a second-team All-SEC pick, is 5-for-12 (.417) with a double and three runs scored … VU is hitting .333 for the tourney with four homers, six doubles and 20 RBI … The pitching staff has a 2.16 ERA with 26 strikeouts and eight walks in 25.0 innings. Opponents are hitting at just a .239 clip over the first three games … The pitching trio of Mike Minor (9.0), Sonny Gray (7.0), and Caleb Cotham (7.2) have combined to throw 23.2 of a total 25.0 innings so far in the tournament. They have a combined ERA of 2.35 with 23 strikeouts and seven walks in that span … Other than those three, the rest of the Commodore pitching staff is rested and on call in the championship game.