April 8, 2011
Game Notes in PDF Format 
| Corbin on 104.5 Wake Up Zone Friday morning
VANDERBILT RE-VU
Vanderbilt improved to 8-0 in weekday games with a 9-1 win over Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday night. The Dores scored seven runs in the first two innings to cruise to victory. Jason Esposito’s three-run homer in the second inning but VU up 7-1. The Commodores finished off the team’s first-ever sweep at Auburn on Sunday with a 6-2 win. The Dores used a four-run seventh inning to put the Tigers away. Vanderbilt scored eight runs in the eighth inning with two outs to beat Auburn 11-2 and clinch the series. Mike Yastrzemski’s two-run single ignited the rally. The Commodores pounded out a season-best 20 hits en route to an 11-6 win. Riley Reynolds drove in three runs and collected four hits in the win.
ON THE BUMP
Friday, April 8
RHP Sonny Gray (6-1, 1.74) vs. RHP Nathan Kilkrease (4-1, 1.90)
Saturday, April 9
LHP Grayson Garvin (5-1, 2.36) vs. LHP Adam Morgan (4-1, 4.10)
Sunday, April 10
RHP Taylor Hill (2-0, 2.84) vs. LHP Taylor Wolfe (1-2, 3.86)
KEMP IS CO-FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Freshman Tony Kemp was named the co-Freshman of the Week by the Southeastern Conference on Monday. The Franklin, Tenn. native was red-hot last week going 9-for-18 with seven runs scored and two RBI. The left fielder was even better over the weekend at Auburn going 8-for-14 (.571) setting a career-best with four hits on Friday, a career-high with three runs scored and matched a career-best with two RBI on Saturday and walked twice on Sunday to equal his career-high. In SEC games Kemp leads the team in average (.514), runs (11) and on-base percentage (.581). The honor is the first of his career and he shares it with South Carolina pitcher Forrest Koumas.
MOVING ON UP
Vanderbilt took over the top spot in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ poll this week and is now the top-ranked team in four of the five major polls. SEC East Division rivals South Carolina and Florida are ranked third and fourth in all five polls.
GO-GO STREAKING
Anthony Gomez enters the game today with a 25-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 .367 for the season. During the streak he is 44-for-110 (.396) with RBI in 18 of the 25 contests and has 14 multi-hit games.
ROLLING AGAINST THE TIDE
The Commodores host Alabama for the first time since 2009 when the Tide came to Nashville and swept a three-game series from VU. Alabama took two-of-three from Vandy last season in Tuscaloosa and has won each of the last three series against Vanderbilt dating back to 2008. The Dores are 50-76-2 all-time against Alabama dating back to 1893. Head Coach Tim Corbin is 8-13 against the Tide in his tenure on West End. Starter Nathan Kilkrease and outfielder Taylor Dugas, who is hitting .351 with three home runs, lead the West-leading Tide.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
All three Vanderbilt starters are in the Top 12 in the SEC in ERA. Sonny Gray is third (1.74), Grayson Garvin is 10th (2.36) and Taylor Hill is 12th (2.84), no other team has more than two in the Top 12. The Commodores have seven triples as a team and Tony Kemp has four of them with Anthony Gomez, Aaron Westlake and Connor Harrell all having one. The 5-foot, 6-inch Kemp has the highest slugging percentage (.462) among the regular players. The Dores have nine road wins already this year or three fewer than the team had all of last season.
DORES ON TV
For the third consecutive week Vanderbilt will play on television. The Commodores’ game against Alabama Friday night will be aired on CSS and streamed over the Internet ESPN3.com. VU has been on TV at Arkansas on Sunday and at Auburn last Saturday. The Commodores play two of the team’s three games at South Carolina on TV with CSS airing Saturday’s game and ESPN2 broadcasting Sunday’s tilt.
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 247 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 now alone in 10th place all-time with 21 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.
BIG CROWDS THIS WEEKEND AT THE HAWK
Hawkins Field will host big crowds this weekend with Alabama in town. Infield tickets are extremely limited for all three games while outfield tickets are still available. For more ticket information call 615.322.GOLD.