June 21, 2011
Vanderbilt’s College World Series central | Omaha on our mind, June 13 | June 14 | June 15
June 16
After a strange two days of baseball that featured a 2.5-hour weather delay, an overnight suspension of a game and a 10 a.m. resumption of the game Tuesday, Vanderbilt’s baseball team hopes to return to some normalcy Wednesday when the Commodores face North Carolina at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
Vanderbilt and the Tar Heels met on Saturday in the College World Series opener, but the stakes will be much higher on Wednesday as both teams face elimination. The winner will get to face Florida on Friday. After the conclusion of Tuesday’s game, Vanderbilt’s players were able to rest up at the hotel the rest of the day, while spending quality time with friends and family who made the trek to Nebraska.
Vanderbilt in what was surprisingly the first all-time meeting between the two schools. North Carolina left a season-high 16 runners on base in Saturday’s meeting. Check out the updated CWS bracket.
Wednesday’s Matchup
Vanderbilt will send senior right-hander Taylor Hill, who is 5-1 with a 2.84 ERA, to the mound on Wednesday. He will be opposed by fellow senior righty Greg Holt, who will be making just his second start of the season.
Holt (7-1, 3.57 ERA) was an eighth round draft pick by the Washington Nationals and has appeared in 32 games this season. His only other start was in the opening game of the ACC Tournament when he went 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits, while striking out six. Hill will be making his first start since June 5 against Belmont.
Waiting Out the Storm
The overnight suspension of Monday’s game was not the first of the season for the Commodores or Gators. In fact, it wasn’t the first time it has occurred in a meeting between the two schools.
In the first game of the regular season series played at Hawkins Field, the game was also suspended in the bottom of the sixth inning due to rain. That game was resumed the following day with the Gators rallying from a 4-2 deficit to claim a 6-5 win.
Unfortunately, Vanderbilt could not stage a similar rally Tuesday in its 3-1 loss.
“We had the right mindset coming into this game because we’ve been here before,” Vanderbilt pitcher Will Clinard said. “I was coming in before the rain delay. I knew I’d have the ball this afternoon. So I had overnight to prepare for this, so we were definitely prepared to come in and beat them today.”
Team Hotel Turned Black & Gold
Vanderbilt’s team hotel in Omaha, the Hilton Garden Inn, has been a terrific host to the team. The hotel staff members have donned Commodore gear and the lobby is decked out in Vanderbilt paraphernalia.
Before every game, Vanderbilt has held a send-off/pep rally in the lobby of the hotel, and the staff has pumped in music to enhance an already electric atmosphere.
When I returned to the hotel after Tuesday’s game, I found it fitting that Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ was the song playing over the hotel’s speakers. The Commodores will need to win their next three games to reach the championship series, but teams have had to do much more before and have. Just last season South Carolina lost its opening game before claiming the national title.
For those in Omaha, there will again be a team send-off and pep rally at the Hilton Garden Inn at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Also, fans are invited to drop by DJ’s Bullpen after the pep rally to mingle with fellow Commodore fans.
Middle of Order Looking to get Bats Started
Tony Kemp and Anthony Gomez are a combined 7-for-14 (.500) at the top of Vanderbilt’s lineup in the CWS, but their success hasn’t translated to success up and down the lineup.
Vanderbilt’s 3-6 hitters are a combined 2-for-32 (.062) in the College World Series. However, it must be noted that there have been a number of tough luck hard hits that have been hit right at opposing fielders. The 3-6 hitters were 0-for-16 against Florida.
“We know that maybe if a couple of guys are struggling, we’ve got nine guys in the lineup that are going to pick each other up,” first baseman Aaron Westlake said. “So me, Curt, Espo, maybe some of the guys have been struggling a little bit, but we have Tony, Gomez, Conrad, and Riley picking us up right now. It’s baseball. You’re not going to get a hit every single game.”
Unseasonably Cool
After great weather the first two days of the College World Series, the last two days have not been great in Omaha. In fact, it has been unseasonably cool here the last two evening. The average high this time of year is 85 degrees, but it didn’t get much above 70 degrees today and was mostly cloudy with scattered showers. The temperature was in the low 60s this evening and will dip into the 50s overnight.
The high for Wednesday is 72 degrees with a 40 percent chance of rain in the morning. We’ve received a good bit of rain in the last two days, and again had a baseball game impacted by the weather. The start of Tuesday’s South Carolina game with Virginia was delayed for an hour due to rain.
SEC Dominating
The SEC is 5-1 in the College World Series this year with the lone loss coming when Vanderbilt played Florida. It has been three straight years now that the SEC has dominated the CWS, winning titles in 2009 and 2010. SEC teams are 18-6 in the last three years in the College World Series with half of the losses coming to fellow league members (6).
SEC in the CWS
2011: 5-1
2010: 6-3
2009: 7-3
