March 26, 2010
Live Video and Live Stats | 
Purchase Tickets | 
Game Notes
No. 20 Vanderbilt (18-4, 1-2 SEC) vs. Kentucky (16-5, 1-2 SEC)
Friday, March 26 – 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, March 27 – 2 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 28 – 1 p.m. CT
Hawkins Field (3,700)
Series History vs. Kentucky
Kentucky leads all-time 136-127-5 in a series that dates back to 1905. The Wildcats have won three of the last four series dating back to the 2006 campaign. VU hasn’t won the series in Nashville since the 2004 season.
Last Two Series
March 22, 2009: Vanderbilt 4, Kentucky 2 – Lexington
March 21, 2009: Kentucky 6, Vanderbilt 2 – Lexington
March 20, 2009: Kentucky 3, Vanderbilt 1 – Lexington
April 27, 2008: Kentucky 3, Vanderbilt 1 – Nashville
April 26, 2008: Kentucky 6, Vanderbilt 2 – Nashville
April 25, 2008: Vanderbilt 3, Kentucky 2 – Nashville
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll, No. 23 in Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and No. 24 in Baseball America. Kentucky is ranked No. 21 by Rivals.com, No. 24 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll and No. 26 by the NCBWA.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 294-161 in his eighth season in Nashville. He is 400-299 in 14 seasons overall. Corbin is 11-10 against Kentucky. UK’s Gary Henderson is 44-31 in his second season as head coach of the Wildcats. He is 2-1 against Vanderbilt.
Radio/TV/Internet
All of Vanderbilt’s games this weekend can be heard in Nashville on 560 AM WNSR. Fans can also listen via the internet at www.vucommodores.com. Joe Fisher will call this weekend’s action. Fans can also sign up for text updates via www.twitter.com/vandybaseball and follow livestats for every game through www.vucommodores.com.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt hosts Kentucky this weekend in the Commodores Southeastern Conference home opener. The teams will open up on Friday at 6 p.m. and will continue on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are available through the Vanderbilt ticket office at (615) 322-GOLD or online at www.vucommodores.com
About Kentucky
Kentucky is 16-5 on the season and 1-2 in the SEC after dropping the opening series against Ole Miss last weekend in Lexington. The Wildcats defeated Xavier, 11-6, on Tuesday before heading to Nashville.
UK has been led offensively by preseason All-American junior second baseman Chris Bisson, who enters with a .390 average, adding two homers and 14 RBI. Senior centerfielder Keenan Wiley has hit .351 with four doubles, three homers and 17 RBI to help lead the way. The Wildcats are hitting .298 as a team with 29 homers and 159 runs scored in 21 games (7.6 per game).
Kentucky’s rotation for the weekend will be junior left-hander Logan Darnell (3-1, 3.09 ERA) on Friday, freshman southpaw Taylor Rogers (3-1, 4.75 ERA) on Saturday and right-hander Alex Meyer (4-2, 6.51 ERA) on Sunday. The Wildcats have a 3.97 team ERA with 160 strikeouts and 71 walks in 188.0 innings pitched.
Defensively UK has made 33 errors on the year and has a .962 fielding percentage, 10th in the SEC.
Freshmen Contributions
Freshmen Anthony Gomez and Connor Harrell are making the most of their opportunities thus far this season and have earned more playing time for their performances on the field in the process.
Gomez, a middle infielder from New Jersey, is hitting .556 in 17 games, including nine starts. He has the team’s longest hitting streak this year at 14 games and in five of those games he extended the skein in just one at bat. He is 10-for-20 (.500) in the last five games including an 8-for-12 (.667) showing against Alabama last weekend.
Harrell, an outfielder from Texas, is hitting .361 in 19 games, including 17 starts. He has a homer, eight doubles and 16 RBI and has played a steady outfield. Three of his last six hits have been doubles and he has five RBI in the last five games.
Gray Named To Pitcher of the Year Watch List
Sophomore right-hander Sonny Gray was recently named to the College Baseball Foundation initial Pitcher of the Year Watch List for 2010.
This is the second award watch list that the Smyrna, Tenn., native has been named to including the Golden Spikes Award.
Gray is currently 3-2 with a 2.73 ERA with 33 strikeouts and 13 walks on the year. He was the tough luck loser last Friday against Alabama after giving up one earned run in 5.2 innings with four strikeouts and four walks. The sophomore played on the USA Baseball Collegiate National team over the summer and has already been invited back for the trials in June.
The Pitcher of the Year Award will be presented in Lubbock, Texas, on July 2 as part of the College Baseball Awards Show.
Corbin Coaching Milestones
Head coach Tim Corbin notched his 400th career victory in Wednesday night’s win over Wright State. He has amassed 294 wins in eight seasons at Vanderbilt and 106 victories in five seasons at Presbyterian. Corbin is currently 12 wins behind Larry Schmittou (306), who is second on the school’s all-time win list. The Commodores all-time wins leader is Roy Mewbourne who went 655-608-9 from 1979-2002.
Espo Power
Third baseman Jason Esposito is having a great sophomore season at the plate, already surpassing his home run total of a year ago. As a freshman he hit .287 with four homers, 13 doubles and 42 RBI while starting in all 64 games played. This season Esposito is hitting .391 with five homers, nine doubles and 28 RBI. He is the team leader with 10 stolen bases as well and is 7-for-18 (.389) with a homer, double and eight RBI in the last five games.
Giobbi named to Johnny Bench Award Watch List
Senior catcher Andrew Giobbi is on the official watch list for the 2010 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award.
The Portland, Maine, native has had an outstanding season thus far behind the plate, having thrown out 13 of 20 runners attempting to steal. He has also caught a pitching staff that has a stellar 2.94 team ERA, best in the SEC. This is the second year in a row “Gio” has been named to the watch list.
The watch list will be narrowed down to the semifinalists, whom will be announced May 19, 2010. Ballots will be sent to the national voting panel at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced June 2, 2010 prior to the NCAA Regionals and Major League Baseball Draft. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at the 13th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on July 1, 2010.
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt’s 18 wins is tops in the SEC entering weekend play … VU is second in the SEC in hitting with a .350 batting average and leads the conference with a 2.94 team ERA … Freshman infielder Anthony Gomez’ team best 14 game hitting streak was snapped on Wednesday as was freshman outfielder Connor Harrell’s nine game skein … VU went 2-3 last week, splitting a midweek series with WKU before dropping two of three at Alabama over the weekend in the SEC opener … Errors plagued the Commodores last week as nine mistakes led to 13 unearned runs in five games. VU fielded .954 on the week, while WKU and Alabama made just four between them for a .979 fielding percentage … The Commodore bats did not have as strong a week, hitting .303 as a team with a homer, 11 doubles and 27 runs scored … The pitching staff sported a 5.44 ERA and the strikeout to walk ratio was 34 to 28 in 43.0 innings … Aaron Westlake was 9-for-23 (.391) in five games with two doubles, a triple and four RBI … Connor Harrell was 7-for-19 (.368) with two doubles, three RBI and two runs scored … Curt Casali returned to action after missing six games with the hamstring injury. He pinch hit in the Friday opener against the Tide, then started at DH in the final two games. He was 1-for-7 with two runs scored in his return … Jack Armstrong continued where he left off last weekend against Ohio on the mound, allowing just one earned run in 6.1 innings against Alabama on Sunday. He picked the win to move to 3-0 on the year. He has allowed just two earned runs in his last 13 innings of work. Sonny Gray was the tough luck loser on Friday, allowing one earned run over 5.2 innings with four strikeouts against the Crimson Tide … Closer Russell Brewer continues to impress, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings over two games on the week. He picked up his third save of the year with 2.2 innings of one-hit shutout relief against Alabama on Sunday. He has 15 saves in his career … Corey Williams picked up his first collegiate win against WKU last Wednesday, throwing two innings of one-hit scoreless relief. He followed that up with his first collegiate save, throwing three shutout innings in closing out the 10-4 win over Lipscomb on Tuesday … VU is 14-1 at home this season and are 68-60-4 against Kentucky in Nashville … The Wildcats have two players from the Nashville area, junior Logan Darnell (Joelton, Tenn.) and Jordan Cooper (Shelbyville).