April 1, 2011
VANDERBILT RE-VU
Vanderbilt rolled over UT-Martin 10-3 Tuesday night. Sam Lind drove in three runs and had three hits in the win. The Commodores’ pitching staff led the way for the third straight game giving up just one run in Vanderbilt’s 2-1 win on Sunday at Arkansas to clinch the team’s sixth straight series. Taylor Hill pitched five scoreless innings to earn the win before turning it over to the bullpen. The VU pitching staff allowed only four runs in the three games against Arkansas over the weekend. Grayson Garvin dominated the Razorbacks over eight innings to help the Commodores to a 4-1 victory on Saturday. The lefty allowed one run on two hits with six strikeouts to even the series for VU. Arkansas rallied for two runs on an infield hit to beat Vanderbilt 2-1 Friday night. Commodores’ starter Sonny Gray took the loss despite striking out 12 in a complete game.
ON THE BUMP<>Friday, April 1
RHP Sonny Gray (5-1, 1.51) vs. RHP Andrew Morris (1-1, 4.32)
Saturday, April 2
LHP Grayson Garvin (4-1, 2.45) vs. TBA
Sunday, April 3
RHP Taylor Hill (2-0, 2.76) vs. RHP Derek Varnadore (3-1, 3.60)
THREE OUT OF FIVE AIN’T BADVanderbilt is the top ranked team in the nation in three of the five major polls this week. The Commodores make their first appearance at the top spot in the Baseball America poll since 2007. The Dores are also the top-ranked team in the NCBWA and Perfect game polls. Virginia occupies the top spot in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ and Collegiate Baseball polls this week. Three of the top four teams in all five polls are in the SEC East division with South Carolina and Florida ranked third and fourth respectively.
GARVIN GARNERS SEC HONORS
Junior Grayson Garvin was named the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday for his performance at Arkansas last Saturday. The tall lefty fanned six Razorbacks while scattering two hits and allowing only one run in his fourth victory of the season. Garvin has allowed only one run on four hits with 12 strikeouts over 15 innings in his first two SEC starts of the year. The Georgia-native joins Sonny Gray as the only two Commodores to earn the honor this season.
GO-GO STREAKING
Anthony Gomez enters the game today with a 21-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 .343 for the season. During the streak he is 34-for-90 (.378) with RBI in 14 of the 21 contests and has 10 multi-hit games.
TAMING THE TIGERS
Vanderbilt visits Auburn for the first time since 2009 when the Tigers took two-of-three from the Commodores. VU returned the favor last season beating Auburn twice on West End. Head Coach Tim Corbin is 12-7 against the Tigers while Vanderbilt is 48-91-1 all-time against AU.
ONE-TWO, LEFT-RIGHT
Sonny Gray and Grayson Garvin have teamed up to make one of the best pitching duos in the country thus far this season. The tandem is a combined 9-2 with a 1.98 ERA, 18 walks and 96 strikeouts for the year. Over their last three starts the two have combined to strike out 49 batters and allow six earned runs on 22 hits across 43.1 innings (1.25 ERA).
DORES ON TV
For the second consecutive week Vanderbilt will play on television. The Commodores’ game at Auburn Saturday night will be aired on CSS and streamed over the Internet ESPN3.com. VU’s game at Arkansas last Sunday was broadcast on CST and streamed on ESPN3.com. The Dores’ next televised game will come at Hawkins Field against Alabama on Friday, April 8.
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 242 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.