March 22, 2011
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
VANDERBILT RE-VU
Mississippi State ended Vanderbilt’s 12-game win streak rallying from a four-run deficit to win 9-8 on Sunday and avoid a SEC opening series sweep. The Bulldogs’ five-run eighth inning delivered the team’s first lead of the weekend and ultimately sank the Commodores. Anthony Gomez extended his hitting streak to 16 games with three hits and Aaron Westlake added three more in the loss. The Commodores posted the team’s third straight shutout with a 4-0 win over Mississippi State Saturday to win the series. Grayson Garvin picked up his third win of the year with seven scoreless innings and Tony Kemp led the offense going 3-for-4. Vanderbilt opened SEC play with a 10-0 win over Mississippi State last night. Sonny Gray earned his fifth win of the year pitching 7.1 scoreless innings and striking out 10 Bulldogs.
ON THE BUMP
Tuesday, March 22LHP Kevin Ziomek (1-0, 2.14) vs. LHP Kevin McWhirter (0-1, 8.40)
Friday, March 25 – at Arkansas
RHP Sonny Gray (5-0, 1.34) vs. TBA
Saturday, March 26 – at Arkansas
LHP Grayson Garvin (3-1, 2.78) vs. TBA
Sunday, March 27 – at Arkansas
RHP Taylor Hill (1-0, 3.25) vs. TBA
HITS IN BUNCHES
The Commodores have been picking up hits in bunches this year with 60 multi-hit games. Ten different players have combined for 48 two-hit games, seven Dores have combined for 11 three-hit games and Anthony Gomez’s four-hit game against Purdue is a team season-best. Aaron Westlake leads the team with 12 multi-hit games this season.
YOUNG GUNS
Freshmen Kevin Ziomek and T.J. Pecoraro have been impressive in their young Vanderbilt careers. The duo are a combined 3-0 in 10 games, five starts, with a 1.40 ERA (7ER/45.0IP), 10 walks and 39 strikeouts.
GO-GO STREAKING
Anthony Gomez enters the game today with a 16-game hitting streak. Gomez started his streak against Stanford on February 25 and has at least one hit in every game since. The Dores shortstop entered the game against Stanford hitting .158 (3-for-19 in the team’s first five games) and comes into today’s action hitting .341 for the season. During the streak he is 28-for-69 (.406) with RBI in 12 of the 15 contests and has nine multi-hit games.
AGAINST THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Vanderbilt hosts Tennessee Tech with the Commodores holding a 39-20 advantage in the series dating back to the Golden Eagles’ 3-2 win over VU in 1928. The Dores handed TTU a 10-1 loss last year and Head Coach Tim Corbin is 5-0 against the Eagles. Tennessee Tech is led by first baseman Zach Stephens, who is hitting .398 with five home runs and 27 RBI.
MODESTLY STREAKING
Excluding Anthony Gomez, five different Commodores have hitting streaks of at least four games entering tonight’s game. Curt Casali and Mike Yastrzemski have each hit in six straight games. Freshman Tony Kemp is riding a five-game streak. Connor Harrell and Aaron Westlake have at least one hit in the last four contests.
GRAY MOVING UP
Junior Sonny Gray is on the move up the career all-time lists. The right-hander moved into eighth place all-time with 230 career strikeouts passing Matt Buschmann (2003-06), Steve Sadecki (1989-91) and Nick Christiani (2006-09). David Price (2005-07) holds the school record with 441 strikeouts. Gray is tied for 10th all-time with Christiani and Mike McLochlin (1988-90) with 20 wins. Jeff Peeples (1970-73) holds the school record with 29 wins.
ESPOSITO RUNS INTO TOP 10
Jason Esposito moved into the Top 10 all-time for stolen bases in a career at Vanderbilt when he stole a base on Opening Day against San Diego. The junior third baseman has added to his total and now is in eighth place with 60 stolen bases. Next up on the list is Nick Morrow (1991-94), who had 65 steals in his career. Charles DeFrance (1980-82) holds the school record with 96 stolen bases.
FANN BLOG
Catcher Drew Fann is keeping a weekly blog this season for CollegeBaseballDaily.com. The junior backstop talks about college life, the team and what the team does off the field. Fann’s blog can be read every Tuesday on the site.
VANDY PICKED 2ND IN SEC EAST BY COACHES
Vanderbilt was picked to finish second in the SEC East division by the league’s coaches behind Florida, who the coaches tabbed as the favorite to win the league. Defending national champion South Carolina was picked to finish third in the East followed by Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee. LSU was chosen to win the SEC West followed by Arkansas, Auburn, Ole Miss, Alabama and Mississippi State.
THE ALL-AMERICANS
Juniors Sonny Gray, Jason Esposito and Aaron Westlake were all named preseason All-American’s by Baseball America. Gray was a first team selection while Esposito and Westlake were placed on the second team. The Commodore trio was three of the 10 SEC players on the three team list. Gray and Esposito were recognized by multiple media outlets as a All-Americans.
DOLLAR DAYS
Dollar Days continue this week with outfield seats priced at $1 for tonight’s game against Tennessee Tech. All outfield seats for midweek games the rest of the season will be $1.