April 12, 2011
VANDERBILT RE-VU
The Commodores finished off a sweep of Alabama with an 11-6 win on Sunday. VU rallied for six runs in the seventh inning using a three-run homer from Curt Casali and two-run blast from Bryan Johns to put the game away. Vanderbilt shutout Alabama 7-0 behind a strong start from Grayson Garvin. The lefty fanned seven over 7.1 innings. The Commodores held off an early Alabama rally and cruised to an 11-3 victory Friday night. Curt Casali drove in three runs and Anthony Gomez had three hits in the win. Vanderbilt improved to 8-0 in weekday games with a 9-1 win over Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday night. The Commodores finished off the team’s first-ever sweep at Auburn on Sunday with a 6-2 win. Vanderbilt scored eight runs in the eighth inning with two outs to beat Auburn 11-2 and clinch the series. 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
Tuesday, April 12
RHP T.J. Pecoraro (5-0, 1.74) vs. RHP Paul Mittura (1-3, 4.76)
Friday, April 15 – at South Carolina
RHP Sonny Gray (7-1, 1.54) vs. TBA
Saturday, April 16 – at South Carolina
LHP Grayson Garvin (6-1, 2.04) vs. TBA
Sunday, April 17 – at South Carolina
RHP Taylor Hill (2-0, 3.19) vs. TBA
CASALI IS SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Curt Casali has been named the SEC Player of the Week. Casali hit .429 (6-for-14) with three doubles, a home run, three runs scored and 10 RBI in the Commodores’ four games last week. Casali drove in three runs against Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday, three more runs in Friday’s game against Alabama and four more runs in Sunday’s victory over the Crimson Tide. The honor is the first of Casali’s career and the fourth for the team this season. Casali joins pitchers Sonny Gray and Grayson Garvin and freshman Tony Kemp as Dores the SEC has honored this year.
GO-GO STREAKING
Anthony Gomez enters the game today with a 28-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 .383 for the season. During the streak he is 51-for-121 (.422) with RBI in 18 of the 28 contests and has 17 multi-hit games.
LOCKED IN
The Vanderbilt offense has been locked in since SEC play began in mid-March. In SEC games only the squad is hitting .328 and averaging 7.2 runs per game while outscoring SEC opponents 86-32 (7.2 to 2.7). Add in the Commodores’ four midweek games since beginning with Purdue and VU is hitting .328 and outscoring opponents 125-38 (7.8 to 2.4). The team entered the game against Purdue hitting .302 and had outscored opponents 97-55 (5.7 to 3.2). The Dores have been great at home going 21-2 and outscoring opponents 164-63 this season.
AGAINST THE BLUE RAIDERS
The Commodores visit Middle Tennessee State for the back end of a home-and-home with the Blue Raiders. The Commodores beat MTSU last week 9-1 at Hawkins Field. VU swept the Raiders last year winning 1-0 at Hawkins Field and 11-10 in Murfreesboro. Head Coach Tim Corbin is 12-7 against Middle Tennessee State since arriving on West End. Vanderbilt holds an 86-41 all-time record against MTSU.
DORES ON TV
For the fourth consecutive week Vanderbilt will play on television. 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. Two of the games against LSU at Hawkins Field will be televised next weekend. Saturday’s game will be on FSN and Sunday’s on ESPN2.
GRAY MOVING UP
Junior Sonny Gray is on the move up the career all-time lists. The right-hander has moved into seventh place all-time with 251 career strikeouts. David Price (2005-07) holds the school record with 441 strikeouts. Gray is now tied for seventh place all-time with Price and Mike Minor among others with 22 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.