May 27, 2011
Hoover, Ala. – By Rod Williamson
Was this baseball or chess? There is less thought put into lab experiments than what 7,123 lucky fans and a televised audience witnessed. On further consideration, this second round winner’s bracket battle was a diamond laboratory with visiting professors Tim Corbin and Ray Tanner presiding.
Pinch runners, pitching changes, position shifts, sacrifice and safety squeeze bunts – even a brief power outage! Will they hit and run or steal? Time to change pitchers? It was thinking man’s baseball with two of the nation’s heavyweights providing a seminar on the manicured turf.
When class let out after 188 minutes of strategy and sweaty palms, Vanderbilt had outlasted South Carolina 7-2, in a game worthy of a College World Series platform. Certainly the eyes of collegiate baseball – to say nothing of professional scouts – were riveted on Regions Park Thursday night.
The Commodores once again displayed a masterful command of fundamentals, best exemplified in the ninth inning when it successfully executed two safety squeeze bunts in three batters to score two valuable runs.
“Once we got runners in scoring position we were able to put pressure on them,” Corbin said. “We have worked hard on these things since the fall and tonight our execution worked out. We had the proper angle on the bunts; our runners could read it well.”
Indeed the Commodores had three bunt singles in the decisive ninth. The first was from the unlikely source of power hitting Aaron Westlake; it was a seeing eye pop that fell harmlessly in a Gamecock triangle between first base and the mound. Two batters later, it was Mike Yastrzemski putting down a perfect safety to score Anthony Gomez, who had singled to start the frame. And if that were not enough, two batters later it was Conrad Gregor doing the exact same thing with the same result.
“You have to have confidence and trust that you can execute,” Yaz said in summary.
All that small ball helped stimulate a four run ninth and gave the Commodores plenty of breathing room from the precarious 3-2 edge it held much of the evening.
Vanderbilt starting pitcher Sonny Gray was his usual competitive self, going toe-to-toe with the talented Gamecocks for 6 1/3 innings. He was lifted after 101 pitches, which hit his pitch count nearly on the head.
“It was a fight out there tonight,” the Smyrna right-hander said. “It was nice to beat South Carolina because they are a very good team but what we really wanted to do was stay in the winner’s bracket.”
That goal was in jeopardy several times, especially in the seventh when Corey Williams got into a bases loaded mess after taking over for Gray. Williams got Scott Wingo to ground out to short in one of the bigger moments of the game.
Relief pitchers Will Clinard and closer Navery Moore also had some positive moments on the hill in the eighth and ninth. Moore coaxed a fly ball out of Evan Marzilli to end a mild USC threat in the eighth.
By winning, the Commodores earned a day off Friday with the unbeaten Florida Gators while those in the loser’s bracket must slug it out tomorrow for the right to advance.
Vanderbilt next plays the winner of the Arkansas-Alabama game Saturday at 9:30 a.m. while Florida will meet the winner of South Carolina-Georgia game.