June 10, 2011
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Jones’ Photos 
| Howell’s Photos | Green’s Photos
Vanderbilt 11, Oregon State 1
June 10, 2011
Hawkins Field – Super Regional Game One
Head Coach Tim Corbin
Opening statement…
“Any time you are playing in a super regional you want to try and get some momentum going, and we did tonight. Sonny [Gray] did very well carrying us into the seventh inning and then Corey [Williams] finished it out. We played some very good ground-ball defense early in the game. We turned a big double play there; the 1-6-3 was important after the error. The focus of the offense was a lot of scoring with two outs. That first inning was big with us getting out one-two then getting six men on base. It was a big moment for us and put four up in that inning. Yaz’s [Mike Yastrzemski] homerun was a two-run homerun while Espo [Jason Esposito] had a two-out homerun and [Tony] Kemp’s hit was a two-out hit. Pretty clutch hitting tonight.”
On scoring with two outs…
“I just think they are mature and I think what Jason [Esposito] eluded to is that they just try to keep the line going. They understand just because you have two outs doesn’t mean you can’t score in an inning. They are talented enough to know that if we get a runner on we can move him around. We can move them up and it has been a trend throughout the year. Two-out hitting is difficult but these guys don’t seem to make it difficult. It’s almost like a challenge.”
On having success against Oregon State pitcher Sam Gaviglio…
“We just knew this kid was good. We watched film, as they probably watched film on us, and tried to get enough information as possible and if you told me 11-1 would be the final score I don’t know if I would have agreed with you right off the bat. This kid was a tough customer and we were just fortunate to push across some runs early. I think after that it carried some momentum into the middle part of the game. That doesn’t happen to him; that was an anomaly. Give credit to our kids, there is a reason why it happened.”
Right Fielder Mike Yastrzemski
On the approach to Oregon State’s pitching and how the team had success…
“It’s based on our approach against a guy like that. You can look for a fastball away and can adjust to either a slider or a changeup and that way we have a lot of confidence to hit anything he throws at us.”
On the two-out offense…
“With two outs, all you are trying to do is put the ball in play and when you see a good pitch, all you have to do is be aggressive and that’s what everyone did. We’ve been doing that a lot this year and it’s a key to our consistency. It’s how we’ve been scoring a lot of our runs.”
Pitcher Sonny Gray
On his approach to pitching…
“Early in the game we were going to attack them. Oregon State is a team that likes to work the count, and we knew they were going to work the count, so we were throwing strikes and we knew first-pitch strikes were going to be huge. Early in the game I was throwing a lot of four-seam cutters. Getting ground balls and staying away from the righties, and then they were putting the ball on the ground. Our defense played phenomenal. Later in the game, I did what I’ve done a lot and go to some two-seams and was able to elevate and sink it and do what we’ve been doing for a while. A lot of moving fastballs tonight.”
On pitching on more rest…
“I don’t know if it helped. I felt good out there tonight, so that was good. I felt strong and I think that was the main thing. Our offense putting up four [runs] in the first helped me keep going and I’ve been able to do that all year. Playing behind and offense and defense like this just makes it a lot easier on the pitcher.”
Third Baseman Jason Esposito On how everyone is feeling…
“We stuck to our approach and took into consideration that they were going to try and have us chase pitches and we laid off. We put good swings on the ball and worked hard. It’s a credit to our consistency.”
On scoring with two outs…
“Riley [Reynolds] didn’t get the runner in from third and Tony Kemp picked him up with two outs. Yaz picked us up in the fourth inning with two outs. I think it’s having each other’s back and having Sonny’s back.”
Oregon State Head Coach Pat Casey
Opening statement:
“We certainly created some big innings for them, a two-out walk, and misplaced fly balls, so we certainly need to play better baseball. They played very, very well. They are very talented. You can’t give them extra outs – two out walks that hurt you in little league will hurt you in high school, and will really hurt you in college so we just have to play better baseball. But, they played tremendously.”
On pitcher Sam Gaviglio:
“We didn’t play well, Sam was not sharp there is no question about that, but I’m not going to get on Sam Gaviglio. He’s been a force all year, he’s tired, and he’s thrown a lot of innings.”
On the team’s difficulty gaining a third out:
“We played fairly well all year long and there’s been some games where that’s been a problem, but that isn’t a problem that we’ve had. Sam doesn’t walk a lot of people and when you’re down 4-nothing to a guy like Sonny Gray, what are you going to do?”
Oregon State Player Quotes
Jake Rodriguez
On the game:
“I think it’s just the approach coming into the game. Everybody has their approach that we’ve created and I think that we squared balls up well as a team, but they just hit the ball better than us.”
On the outlook for tomorrow’s game:
“We should bounce back tomorrow and come out with some intensity. We’re a good ball club too and I think tomorrow we’re going to show it.”
Andrew Susac
On the rest of the series:
“We have to keep our heads up and we have to battle for the rest of the weekend. We knew coming in here that is wasn’t going to be easy. Like Coach said, this team is good and we’re going to have to earn it if we want it.”
On the game:
“I kind of felt like every inning was just a replay, we’d get two quick outs and then the merry-go-round kind of started – they’d get a walk, an error, and the next play a fly ball. I just think they beat us with the bats tonight.”