Feb. 26, 2010
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Vanderbilt (4-0) at the Dodgertown Classic
vs. UCLA – Friday, February 26 – 8 p.m. CT
Jackie Robinson Stadium (1,250)
vs. USC – Saturday, February 27 – 8:30 p.m. CT
Rod Dedeaux Field (2,500)
vs. Oklahoma State – Sunday, February 28 – Noon CT
Dodger Stadium (56,000)
Series History vs. UCLA
Friday’s game will be the first ever meetings between the two schools.
Series History vs. USC
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 2-0. The teams last played in 2006, with the Commodores coming away with a 6-2 win.
Series History vs. Oklahoma State
Sunday’s meeting will be the first ever meetings between the two schools on the baseball diamond
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 29 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers. UCLA is ranked No. 17 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 23 by Baseball America and No. 27 by the NCBWA. USC and OSU are unranked.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 280-157 in his eighth season in Nashville. He is 386-295 in 14 seasons overall. UCLA’s John Savage is 145-150 in his sixth season as head coach of the Bruins. He is 233-234-1 in nine years overall. USC’s Chad Kreuter is 86-86 in his third season as head coach. OSU’s Frank Anderson is 231-130 in his seventh season as the head coach.
Radio/TV/Internet
The games against UCLA and USC will be broadcast in the Nashville area on WNSR 560 AM, with Sunday’s contest against Oklahoma State an internet-only production. Satuirday’s game against USC will be webcast on www.usctrojans.com.
Eric Jones will call all the action this weekend. Fans can also sign up for text updates via www.twitter.com/vandybaseball and follow livestats through www.vucommodores.com.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt makes its annual trip west under head coach Tim Corbin this weekend to take part in the Dodgertown Classic. The Commodores will face UCLA on Friday at 8 p.m. CT, before taking on USC on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. CT. They will conclude the weekend with a game against Oklahoma State on Sunday at Noon CT at Dodger Stadium.
About UCLA
UCLA is 4-0 on the season for the first time since 2000 and are coming off a convincing 10-1 win over Long Beach State on Tuesday.
Junior outfielder Brett Krill leads the team offensively, going 7-for-11 (.636) with two doubles and four runs scored through three games. Sophomore catcher Steve Rodriguez is the top power guy with four homers through the first four games. As a team, UCLA sports a .393 batting average with 10 homers, 10 doubles and 46 RBI.
Sophomore right-hander Gerrit Cole (1-0, 3.00 ERA) will get the start against VU on Friday. The 2008 No. 1 draft pick of the New York Yankees was teammates with Commodore ace Sonny Gray on the USA Collegiate National team over the summer. Cole allowed just one hit and struck out nine over six innings of work against Southern last Friday. The Bruins have a 2.50 team ERA with 48 strikeouts and just six walks in 36.0 innings.
About USC
USC is 3-1 on the year after taking two of three from Cal Poly last weekend and edging Loyola-Marymount 6-5 last Tuesday.
Junior second baseman Matt Hart and sophomore first baseman Matthew Foat share the team lead in batting with both hitting at a .438 clip. The Trojans are hitting .312 as a team with five homers, 10 doubles and 25 RBI.
Sophomore right-hander Chad Smith (0-1, 12.46 ERA) will take the hill against VU on Saturday. He gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings in start at Cal Poly last Saturday. As a team, USC has a 5.14 ERA with 30 strikeouts and 10 walks in 35.0 innings.
About Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State will open its season on Friday against USC. The Cowboys original season opener against Oklahoma Christian last Saturday was canceled due to rain.
OSU finished 34-24 in 2009 and advanced to the finals of the NCAA Clemson Regional, and became the only Big 12 Conference team to advance to a Regional championship round each of the last four seasons.
OSU returns five position starters from a year ago, including three players who batted over .300. Junior infielder Tom Belza has led the team in hitting the last two seasons, including a .346 batting average with six homers and 52 RBI in 2009. As a team, Oklahoma State sported a .300 batting average with 81 homers and 409 runs scored.
The pitching staff returns a group that accounted for 56 percent of its wins in ’09, as well as 14 of its 15 saves. The Cowboys will start a southpaw rotation this weekend, with freshman Andrew Heaney getting the call on Sunday against Vanderbilt. Sophomore right-hander Randy McCurry recorded 10 saves in 2009 while going 4-1 with a 2.16 ERA. Last season, OSU had a 4.69 team ERA with 516 strikeouts and 199 walks in 507.0 innings pitched.
Gray Named SEC Pitcher of the Week
Sophomore right-hander Sonny Gray was named the Southeastern Conference’s Pitcher of the Week the league office announced on Monday.
Gray threw eight innings of three-hit shutout baseball in the Commodores season opening win over Niagara last Friday. He did not allow a runner to second base (only one in game) until the eighth inning and struck out eight batters with just one walk. His eight-inning performance was the longest outing of any hurler in the conference over the weekend.
Dating back to last season, the right-hander has not allowed a run in his last 17 and 2/3 innings with 21 strikeouts and just two walks while giving up 11 hits.
This is Gray’s first pitcher of the week award and second SEC weekly honor. He was named SEC Freshman of the Week last April after recording a win and a save against Florida.
Commodores Picked To Finish Fourth In SEC East
Vanderbilt was picked to finish fourth in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division as the league office released its annual preseason coaches poll today.
The Commodores received one first-place vote in the division with Florida, last year’s division winner, garnering 64 of a possible 66 points from the coaches.LSU is predicted to repeat as the 2010 Southeastern Conference baseball champions, as voted by the league’s 12 baseball coaches in the 19th annual preseason SEC poll.
The Tigers, ranked No. 2 nationally in multiple preseason polls, seek to capture their league-leading 15th SEC Championship. The Tigers return eight position players with starting experience and 10 pitchers from their 2009 squad which claimed the NCAA National Championship.
Since 1996, the SEC has named a regular season champion as well as a tournament champion. Prior to 1996, the tournament champion was considered the SEC Champion.
In the overall SEC Champion vote, LSU received five of a possible 11 votes. Florida received four votes while Arkansas had three.
In addition to picking a preseason SEC champion, the league’s head coaches voted a predicted order of finish in the SEC Eastern and Western Divisions. In the Eastern Division, Florida was the favorite with 64 of a possible 66 points. South Carolina came in second with 52 points and Georgia third with 42. LSU was favorite in the Western Division with a total of 63 points. Arkansas was second with 59, while Ole Miss, who shared the overall title last season with LSU, finished third with 39.
Points were compiled on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. Each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.
Eastern Division
Team
1) Florida (9)
2) South Carolina (2)
3) Georgia
4) Vanderbilt (1)
5) Kentucky
6) Tennessee
Western Division
Team
1) LSU (8)
2) Arkansas (4)
3) Ole Miss
4) Alabama
5) Auburn
6) Mississippi State
( ) – First Place Votes
SEC Champion: LSU (5); Florida (4); Arkansas (3)
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt opened the 2010 season with a convincing three-game series sweep over Niagara. VU outscored the Purple Eagles 46-5 on the weekend with 17 doubles, two homers, 23 walks, 11 hit batters and eight stolen bases in eight attempts … Sophomore right-hander Sonny Gray set the tone for the pitching staff throwing eight innings of three-hit baseball in Friday’s 9-0 win. He struck out eight, walked just one, and didn’t allow a base runner to advance to second base until the eighth inning. His outing was the longest in the SEC on opening weekend. Dating back to last season, Gray hasn’t allowed a run in his last 17.2 innings pitched with 21 strikeouts and just two walks … Junior right-hander Taylor Hill continued the trend on Saturday, throwing 6.2 innings of scoreless baseball with a career high nine strikeouts. VU’s season opening scoreless streak ended at 16.1 innings when Drew Hayes gave up a two-run homer with one out in the seventh … Jack Armstrong picked up his first collegiate win in his longest outing in a Commodore uniform on Sunday. He gave up three first inning runs, then held Niagara scoreless for four innings in a 21-3 victory … As a staff, VU posted a 1.67 ERA with 30 strikeouts and eight walks allowed in 27.0 innings … The top offensive performer was sophomore third baseman Jason Esposito who went 7-for-14 with three doubles, a homer, seven RBI and six runs scored … Freshmen Connor Harrell and Regan Flaherty made the most of their opportunities hitting .571 and .600 respectively. Harrell was 4-for-7 with two walks, two hit by pitches, .727 on base percentage and five runs scored. Flaherty, younger brother of former Commodore All-American Ryan, went 3-for-5 with three doubles and six RBI … Aaron Westlake (6-for-12), Curt Casali (5-for-10) and Brian Harris (3-for-6) each hit .500 on the weekend. Harris got on base 11 times, three via hit, five walks and three hit by pitches (.786 on base percentage) … Freshman outfielder Mike Yastrzemski was 3-for-10 with five runs scored and also made several defensive nice defensive plays as the starter in center … Will Clinard, Corey Williams, Joe Loftus and Sam Selman each made their first collegiate appearances on the mound and threw a scoreless inning apiece … Russell Brewer and Richie Goodenow each threw an inning of scoreless relief as well, with Goodenow striking out the side … The 24 hits on Sunday were the most in the Tim Corbin regime (2003-pres.). 30 hits is the school record set in 1988 … Defensively, the team had just one mistake all weekend (on a wild throw by pitcher Jack Armstrong on a bunt attempt) and finished with a .991 fielding percentage … Sunday’s game marks the first time former Oklahoma State all-american Josh Holliday has faced his alma mater. Holliday played for OSU from 1996-99 and then served as an assistant coach with the Cowboys from 2000-03.
Sonny and Jack Preseason All-Americans
Sophomore right-handed pitchers Sonny Gray and Jack Armstrong were both named to Baseball America’s preseason All-America teams.
Gray was named to the BA’s second-team, while Armstrong was a third-team choice.The duo was part of a group of 13 Southeastern Conference players named to the three All-America squads, including seven first-team selections.
Gray went 5-1 with a 4.30 ERA and notched 72 strikeouts in 58.2 innings last spring en route to Freshman All-American honors. He pitched predominantly out of the bullpen to start the year before moving into the weekend rotation at the end of the season. The Smyrna, Tenn., native made 22 appearances with four starts and led the team with five saves. He pitched for the USA National Collegiate Team over the summer and went 3-1 with a 0.75 ERA in eight appearances. Gray struck out 27 in 24 innings while opponents hit only .139 off him and was named the No. 3 pro prospect on the squad by Baseball America.
Armstrong saw limited action for the Commodores last spring as he adjusted to the college game. He recorded a three-inning save in his last outing, a 10-2 win over Georgia on May 8. The Florida native excelled over the summer pitching for Wareham in the Cape Cod League. He went 4-1 with a 2.57 ERA and struck out 31 in 35 innings of work for the Gateman Armstrong was named to the Cape Cod All-Star team and was honored with Wareham’s Albert Bigelow Award, an award given to the team’s most outstanding pitcher. His four wins tied for tops in the CCBL and he was ranked the No. 6 prospect in the league by Baseball America.
Commodores Had Longest Road Trip In College Baseball
As Division I baseball starts up this week across the country, one Vanderbilt record that will not be beaten is longest trip of the year. Vanderbilt traveled 6,648 miles to Tokyo, Japan and an additional 1,797 miles to Hong Kong over the Thanksgiving holiday week. Due to a generous gift by Vanderbilt alum Bill Kaye, the Commodores were able to fly to Japan and face four of the top teams in Japan’s collegiate system. Along with the quality competition the kids were able to experience different cultures, each with their own unique traditions and histories. The team went 1-1-2 on the field and learned valuable lessons off the field as well.