May 10, 2007
COMMODORE GAMEDAY CENTRAL
No. 1 Vanderbilt (41-9, 17-7 SEC) vs. Auburn (28-22, 7-17 SEC) at Plainsman Park (4,096)
Tentative Weekend Schedule:
Friday, May 11 at 6 p.m. CT (TV: None; Radio: 560 AM)
David Price (8-0, 2.77 ERA) vs. Evan Crawford (4-5, 5.52)
Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
Saturday, May 12 at 2 p.m. CT (TV: None; Radio: 560 AM)
Mike Minor (7-1, 3.05 ERA) vs. Taylor Thompson (4-2, 5.57)
Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM
Sunday, May 13 at 1:30 p.m. CT (TV: None; Radio: 560 AM)
Cody Crowell (2-1, 4.43 ERA) vs. TBA
Live Stats | Free Online Radio | 560 AM | Sirius 123
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STATISTICS AND MORE
Auburn’s Preview | Game Notes | Statistics | SEC Leaders
Series History vs. Auburn:
Auburn leads 86-41-1 in a series that dates back to the 1912 season.
Last Seven Meetings (Two Series, One SEC Tourney Game)
March 26, 2006 Vanderbilt 5, Auburn 2 Nashville
March 25, 2006 Vanderbilt 9, Auburn 1 Nashville
March 24, 2006 Vanderbilt 2, Auburn 0 Nashville
May 22, 2003 Auburn 3, Vanderbilt 1 Birmingham
April 27, 2003 Vanderbilt 3, Auburn 0 Nashville
April 26, 2003 Auburn 7, Vanderbilt 4 Nashville
April 25, 2003 Vanderbilt 7, Auburn 4 Nashville
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 1 by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, the Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Poll. Rivals.com ranks VU No. 2. Auburn is not ranked.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 185-104 in his fifth season as head coach. He is 5-2 against Auburn. AU’s Tom Slater is 134-188 in his third year in Auburn. He is 0-3 against Vanderbilt.
Radio/TV/Internet
All of the 2007 games can be heard free via the internet through Yahoo and can be accessed using the following web page: http://vucommodores.collegesports.com/sports/m-basebl/radio-tv-internet.html. In addition, the series will be broadcast locally in Nashville on WNSR 560 AM. “Voice of the Commodores” Joe Fisher will call all of the action for Vanderbilt this weekend. Live stats via Gametracker can be found on vucommodores.com. Auburn will also have live video streaming for the series via a pay basis and fans can access more info on www.auburntigers.com.
What’s On Tap
No. 1 Vanderbilt closes out its regular season road campaign this weekend with a three game series against Auburn. Friday’s game is set for a 6 p.m. CT start with a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday and a 1:30 start in the series finale on Sunday. The series will be the first for the Commodores at Auburn and Plainsman Park since the 2002 campaign.
Scouting Auburn
Auburn is 28-22 overall and 7-17 in SEC play after getting swept by Mississippi State in Starkville last weekend. The Tigers jumped out to a quick start running up an 18-3 record prior to conference play but have stumbled since. They enter the weekend in last place in the Western Division.
Catcher Josh Donaldson leads the team with a .335 batting average to go with nine homers and 45 RBI, while also successful on 17 of 20 stolen base attempts. Designated hitter Mike Bianucci carries the top power stick with 13 homers and 43 RBI in 41 games.
Auburn is hitting .290 as a team with 32 homers and 342 runs scored in 50 games (6.8 per game).
Southpaw Evan Crawford (4-5, 5.52 ERA) will start for the Tigers on Friday with righthander Taylor Thompson (4-2, 5.57 ERA) taking the hill on Saturday. Auburn’s Sunday starter is still to be determined.
Commodores Look To Clinch SEC East With Sights On Overall Title
Vanderbilt’s magic number is two to clinch at least a share of the SEC Eastern Division crown heading into the weekend. A win and USC and Florida loss on Friday would clinch the Commodores first division crown since claiming back-to-back titles in 1973 and 1974.
Vanderbilt also looks to claim the outright league championship for the first time since 1980. VU heads into the weekend with a one-game lead over Arkansas with the Razorbacks taking on Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In the event both teams finish with identical league records they would be declared co-champions with Arkansas getting the No. 1 seed in the SEC tourney by virtue of their 2-1 series win at the end of March.
Commodores Remain No. 1 In National Ranking For Sixth Straight Week
With the series win over Georgia last weekend, Vanderbilt remained the No. 1 team in the country in the four major polls this week.
Baseball America, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the ESPN/Sports Weekly Coaches Poll all had the Commodores ranked No. 1 for the sixth straight week, while Collegiate Baseball put VU on top in its poll for the second straight week.
The Commodores have been ranked No. 1 in at least one of the polls in 11 of the last 12 weeks.
The Commodores at 41-9 are having the best year in school history and the team’s 20-0 start was the best start of any sport at Vanderbilt. It bested the 17-0 start of the 1993 women’s basketball team.
The 41 wins (39 in 2004) are the most ever for a VU squad in the regular season and the 17 wins in SEC play is also a school record, besting the 16 win years in 2004 and 2006.
The No. 1 baseball ranking joins women’s basketball and women’s golf as the only NCAA sports to achieve a No. 1 ranking at Vanderbilt. The 1993 women’s hoops squad was ranked No. 1 by the AP for six weeks, including the final regular season poll prior to postseason play. The women’s golf team was ranked No. 1 for a time in 2004.
Vanderbilt Offense Heats Up
After Vanderbilt lost its only two midweek games of the year in back-to-back days on April 17-18, the Commodores have gone 9-1 and have been on a tear to the top of the SEC statistical standings. The Commodores are hitting .367 as a team with 12 homers, three doubles, 29 doubles and 89 runs scored (8.9 per game). VU now leads the SEC with a .330 team batting average and are in the top five in 11 offensive categories heading into the weekend. They lead the league with 128 doubles and are second in on base percentage (.403), hits (594) and total bases (884). They also lead the league with a .307 batting average in 24 conference games.
Trio Of Commodores Named Golden Spikes Award Semifinalists
USA Baseball announced last week that third baseman Pedro Alvarez and pitchers David Price and Casey Weathers were named semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award.
Vanderbilt had the most players named to the 50-man list for an award that honors the nation’s premier amateur baseball player.
Alvarez, the 2006 consensus National Freshman of the Year, is among the offensive leaders for the Commodores with a .374 batting average to go along with 13 homers and 53 RBI.
Price, one of five finalists for the award a year ago, is in the midst of his best season at Vanderbilt. The junior from Murfreesboro is 8-0 with a 2.77 ERA and has 143 strikeouts and 24 walks in 97.1 innings this season. He has tallied double-digit strikeouts in nine of his 13 starts this year and is currently second the nation in strikeouts per nine innings.
Weathers leads the team in wins with a 9-2 record to go with a 1.49 ERA. He leads the team with five saves in 23 relief appearances and has 54 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. The California native was recently named the top senior pitching prospect by Baseball America and is projected to be a first round pick in the amateur draft in June.
All three players were on the 2006 USA Baseball National Team that won a gold medal at the World University Championships last August.
The names of the 50 semi-finalists will now be forwarded to a voting body of 125 who will select the five finalists and the eventual 2007 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Winner.
This year will mark the 30th consecutive year that the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award has been presented to the nation’s premier amateur baseball player. The winner’s name will be announced on June 29, 2007, during the 2007 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Show presented by Major League Baseball.
Mike Minor Joins Alvarez and Price On Wallace Award List
Freshman southpaw pitcher Mike Minor joined Pedro Alvarez and David Price on the Brooks Wallace College Player of the Year Award Watch list this week. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate baseball player by the College Baseball Foundation and will be nationally televised on Fox Sports Network.
Price and Alvarez were named to the list of players to watch at the start of the year and Minor joined them as the number of players was updated and reduced to 112.
Minor has enjoyed a stellar freshman campaign posting a 7-1 record with a 3.05 ERA. He began the year as a middle reliever and midweek starter but has since solidified his spot as the Saturday starter in SEC play. The Chapel Hill, Tenn., product is 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA in conference action and is a leading candidate for league freshman of the year honors.
Price Adds To New School Career Strikeout Record
The beat continues for David Price who notched eight strikeouts against Georgia last Friday to add to his school career strikeout record. He now has 390 in his career with two more regular season starts remaining. With nine strikeouts against Kentucky on April 13, the junior lefthander broke a 35-year old school record with 355 career strikeouts. With his fifth strikeout against the Wildcats, he broke Mike Willis’ school record of 350 set from 1969-72. Of note, Willis achieved the mark in four years at Vanderbilt, compared to Price in three. The fellow southpaw went on to a five-year career in the major leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays (1977-81) and finished with a 7-21 record and 15 saves with a 4.59 ERA.
Record Watch
With 13 homers this year, Pedro Alvarez is now in a tie for ninth place on the school’s career homer list with 35. He needs one homer to move past Greg Smith into ninth place on the all-time list. Alvarez needs 14 more round-trippers to tie Scotty Madison’s mark of 49 set from 1977-80.
Casey Weathers Named To Both Roger Clemens Award and Stopper of the Year Watch List
In the last two weeks senior closer Casey Weathers was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Watch List and the Roger Clemens Award Watch List, an award that recognizes the top pitcher in college baseball.
Baseball America recently tabbed him as the top senior pitching prospect in college baseball and the No. 21 prospect overall.
He only made one relief appearance (inning of scoreless work) in the series sweep against Florida after a stellar weekend against Tennessee two weeks ago. Weathers picked up two clutch saves in the first two games against the Vols and a win in the series finale. In the Friday game he came on in the ninth with no outs and the tying runs on base and retired the side. In Saturday’s game he came on with one out in the eighth and the tying run at second base. He struck out a batter to end that threat and then retired the side in order in the ninth to pick up his second save of the weekend. He then came on in relief in the ninth on Sunday with the go ahead run on first and induced a groundout and struck out two to end the threat.
He struck out five with two walks in 3.1 innings shutout innings on the week and now leads the team in wins with an 8-2 record and also leads the team in saves with five.
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt (41-9, 17-7 SEC) captured its sixth straight SEC series after taking two of three against Georgia in Athens over the weekend … VU has won nine of its last 10 games currently sit atop the SEC overall standings. The Commodores have a four game lead in the Eastern Division with six remaining and have a one game lead over Arkansas (16-8) for the No. 1 seed in the SEC tourney. VU is attempting to win its first SEC division title since 1974 and first SEC championship since 1980 (the champion was decided in a tourney) … They are four wins away from tying the school record of 45 set in 2004 when the team reached their first ever NCAA Super Regional … VU banged out a season high 23 hits in Sunday’s win over Georgia … The team is now batting .330 as a team, tied for the lead with Mississippi State in the conference …VU hit .330 in three games against Georgia with three homers, seven doubles, two triples and 23 runs scored … Second baseman Alex Feinberg led the hit parade on the weekend going 7-for-11 (.636) with a 5-for-5 day with a career high six RBI in Sunday’s win. He also belted his third homer of the year and added a couple of doubles on the weekend … Dominic de la Osa is making a charge for All-SEC and All-American honors after a 6-for-13 (.462) weekend with two doubles, a triple, a homer and eight RBI. He had five RBI including a bases clearing three-run double in the top of the ninth of Friday’s game that broke a 5-5 tie … He now leads the team with a .378 batting average and homers with 14 and is second in RBI with 47 … Ryan Flaherty also ripped the ball on the weekend going 7-for-14 (.500) with two doubles and three runs scored … Matt Meingasner was 3-for-8 (.375) in the three games and came off the bench in Friday’s game to rip a two-run homer, his fourth of the year, and first in 23 games … The pitching staff sported a 4.15 ERA with 22 strikeouts and nine walks in 26.0 innings … Ty Davis led the pitching contingent with 6.2 innings of no hit, no walk relief in Sunday’s series clinching win. He struck out four to move to 2-0 on the year and has given up just one earned run in his last 13.2 innings … Casey Weathers picked up his team leading ninth win of the season in Friday’s game. He threw two innings of one-hit shutout relief … Brett Jacobson threw two innings of one hit scoreless relief on Saturday … David Price struck out eight in the no-decision on Friday after giving up a career high 12 hits (all singles) in seven innings. He now has 143 strikeouts and just 24 walks in 97.1 innings this year.
