June 7, 2010
Once again, the season comes down to a championship showdown between the Cardinals and the Commodores (5 p.m. CT). And again, it comes on the heels of a Vanderbilt victory in an elimination game the day before.
The Commodores hope the similarities to last season stop there.
Last year they entered the Regional final after a rousing win a day earlier against Louisville, but fell 5-3 to end their season.
“Every year’s different,” said Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin. “The situation’s different. I feel good about the fact that we’re comfortable here on this surface, and the kids have played in tough atmospheres before.”
After the Cardinals took an early 3-0 lead on Saturday and cruised to a 7-1 victory, Vanderbilt set the tone early on Sunday thanks to a stellar pitching performance by Richie Goodenow. Louisville was shut out for only the second time this year and managed only two hits, a season low, in a 7-0 Vanderbilt win.
Veteran catcher Andrew Giobbi dismissed notions that the Commodores had the upper hand going into tonight’s game, however.
“They’ve been in this position too and they succeeded out of it, so it’ll be a good gut check for us,” he said.
Louisville rolls out Royse: The Louisville Courier-Journal reported that Cardinals ace Thomas Royse, who hasn’t pitched in nearly two weeks due to fatigue, will get the ball for today’s Regional final.
Royse was the Big East Pitcher of the Year, compiling a 9-1 record with a 2.71 earned run average over the regular season. He wasn’t quite as effective in his last appearance, on May 26 in the Big East Tournament, when he allowed four earned runs over six innings in a no-decision against West Virginia.
Corbin shrugged off the significance of the pitching match-up after Sunday’s win, even before the news came that Royse would be starting.
“It’s just one of those things where you’ve seen everything to this point,” Corbin said. “We’ve played 62 games. We’ve seen everything from the time we started. We went to Japan and saw some of the best pitching in the world…Not to minimize anyone, but I don’t think at this point it matters for either side.”
The Commodores faced Royse his freshman year in a 17-6 Vanderbilt victory on March 4, 2008, roughing him up for five runs in 3 1/3 innings, although with almost a totally different line-up.
The Commodores have not officially announced who will start.
Big innings: Entering the ninth inning of Sunday’s first game against Illinois State, Vanderbilt was hitting a measly .121 (4-33) with runners in scoring position during Regional action. However, two 5-run innings in Sunday’s sweep of Illinois State and Louisville showed a welcome turnaround.
The Commodores put together their biggest inning to that point in the final frame against the Redbirds, getting a three-run home run from Aaron Westlake, an RBI double by Joe Loftus and another RBI from Curt Casali when his sharp grounder was too hot to handle for third baseman Ryan Court, scoring Loftus and putting the game well out of reach.
Vanderbilt continued its clutch-hitting in the second game against Louisville, blowing open a 1-0 pitcher’s duel with a string of two-out hits in the fifth. Westlake rapped an RBI single in a lefty-lefty matchup with Bob Revesz with the bases loaded, and Jason Esposito followed with a two-run single. After Loftus walked to re-load the bases, Giobbi delivered the knockout punch with another base hit up the middle, scoring two more.
“Those are momentum-killers,” Giobbi said. “They expect to get back in the dugout. They just need to get one more out, and then you crush them with a two-run single. It was just a single fest for us.”
After struggling all weekend, Vanderbilt’s hitters chose an ideal time to wake out of their slumps with runners on.
“I think it picks us up because it gives us confidence,” Esposito said. “We did a lot of two-out hitting, we did a lot of clutch hitting. We got guys on base, we scored them. That helps us tremendously with our confidence.”
The comeback kids: Despite the knowledge that both games Sunday were make-or-break, Corbin noted how relaxed his players seemed after they came out “a little flat”, as he called it, against Louisville on Saturday.
The atmosphere at Jim Patterson Stadium was loud but slightly subdued as Goodenow pitched his gem in Sunday’s 7-0 win.
“I know their crowd will be into it, but I have great faith in the kids,” Corbin said. “I like their spirit. I like the way they come back.”
AP Photo / Ed Reinke