May 19, 2010
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No. 14 Arkansas (38-15, 16-11 SEC) at No. 15 Vanderbilt (39-13, 15-10)
Thursday, May 20 – 6 p.m. CT
Friday, May 21 – 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, May 22 – 2 p.m. CT – SportSouth TV
Hawkins Field (3,700)
Series History vs. Arkansas
Vanderbilt leads 25-16 in a series that dates back to 1970. After Arkansas claimed the first 11 series between the schools, the Commodores have captured the last two series and have won six straight games against the Razorbacks dating back to the 2007 Southeastern Conference tournament championship game. Both of the last two series have been shortened to two games due to rain. Last season VU beat then No. 1 Arkansas twice in Fayetteville and then beat them via ten-run rule in the semifinals of the SEC tournament.
Recent Results
May 23, 2009: Vanderbilt 11, Arkansas 1 (7) {SEC Tournament} – Hoover, Ala.
April 11, 2009: Vanderbilt 13, Arkansas 6 – Fayetteville
April 10, 2009: Vanderbilt 9, Arkansas 0 – Fayetteville
March 30, 2008: Vanderbilt 6, Arkansas 2 – Nashville
March 29, 2008: Vanderbilt 6, Arkansas 5 (12) – Nashville
May 27, 2007: Vanderbilt 7, Arkansas 4 {SEC Tournament} – Hoover, Ala
Polls
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 15 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll, No. 16 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, No. 20 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 21 by Rivals.com and No. 23 by Baseball America. Arkansas is ranked No. 14 by the NCBWA, Coaches Poll and Rivals.com, No. 17 by BA and No. 18 by CB.
The Coaches
VU’s Tim Corbin is 315-170 in his eighth season in Nashville. He is 421-308 in 14 seasons overall. Corbin is 11-11 against the Razorbacks. UA’s Dave Van Horn is 314-173 in his eighth season as head coach of the Razorbacks and 899-413 in 22 years overall. He is 11-11 against Vanderbilt.
Radio/TV/Internet
All of Vanderbilt’s games this weekend can be heard in Nashville on 560 AM WNSR. Joe Fisher will call all the action.
Saturday’s series finale will be televised on SportSouth and webcast on www.espn3.com. Dave Neal (Play-by-Play) and Larry Conley (Analysis) will provide commentary.
Fans can sign up for text updates via www.twitter.com/vandybaseball and follow livestats for every game and free webcasts on Thursday and Friday at www.vucommodores.com.
Tickets
Single game tickets are available for purchase online at www.vucommodores.com or through the Vanderbilt Ticket Office (615) 322-GOLD.
What’s On Tap
Vanderbilt closes out the 2010 regular season slate with a key three-game series against No. 14 Arkansas this weekend at Hawkins Field. The Commodores and Razorbacks will open the set on Thursday at 6 p.m. and will play again on Friday at 6 p.m., before closing things out on Saturday at 2 p.m. The finale will be televised on SportSouth and can also be seen online via www.ESPN3.com.
About Arkansas
Arkansas is 38-15 overall and 16-11 in Southeastern Conference play after getting swept at home last weekend by South Carolina. The Razorbacks dropped their fourth straight contest in a midweek showdown against Oklahoma, 5-2, on Tuesday, their longest losing streak of the year. They have lost eight of 11 league games entering this weekend’s play.
Sophomore third baseman Zack Cox is a prime candidate for SEC Player of the Year honors, leading the league with a .431 batting average with eight homers, 11 doubles, 47 RBI to go with 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts. In league play he is hitting .445 with six homers, six doubles and 25 RBI. Junior outfielder/right-handed pitcher Brett Eibner is the top power source with 18 homers and 61 RBI to go with a .343 batting average.
The Razorbacks are hitting .312 with 72 homers and 413 runs scored (7.8 per game).
Arkansas will throw sophomore ace left-hander Drew Smyly (8-1, 2.40 ERA) on Thursday and senior right-hander Mike Bolsinger (5-3, 4.66 ERA) on Friday. The Saturday starter is to be determined. Freshman right-hander DJ Baxendale (0-1, 3.83 ERA, 25 appearances) is the team’s closer with seven saves and 39 strikeouts in 49.1 innings.
UA’s team ERA is 3.89 with 462 strikeouts and 140 walks in 472.1 innings. The team sports a .965 fielding percentage including a .968 mark in league play.
What’s At Stake
This weekend in the SEC the top six teams in the standings are playing each other with the marquee matchup in South Carolina, as the Gamecocks (21-7 SEC) host Florida (21-7 SEC) for the overall regular season championship.
SEC West leader Auburn (17-10 SEC) hits the road against Ole Miss (16-11 SEC), while the fourth place Commodores (15-10 SEC) take on the fifth place Razorbacks (16-11 SEC).All six of the above teams have clinched a spot in the conference tournament next week in Hoover, with the seventh and eight spots to be decided this weekend. Four teams are tied at 12-15 in the league: Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU and Alabama. The Vols and Tide will meet in Knoxville while the Wildcats travel to Georgia (3-22 SEC) and the Tigers host Mississippi State (5-22).
The Commodores were unable to play the final two games of the Georgia series due to the flooding in the Nashville area and their spot in the standings will be determined by win percentage. Vanderbilt can finish as high as No. 4 in the standings and as low as No. 6 depending on this weekend’s outcome.
Esposito’s Record Breaking Weekend
Sophomore third baseman Jason Esposito had a big week at the plate, starting with a walk-off homer in the 17th inning against No. 8 Louisville (11-10 win) on Tuesday night, followed by a record-setting weekend in the series sweep at Mississippi State.
Against the Bulldogs he was 8-for-11 (.727) with four doubles, six runs scored with seven walks and three stolen bases. He broke a 27-year old school record having reached base safely 15 consecutive times from Friday to Sunday (still active). The record was 14 set by Tim Brecht in 1983.
On Sunday he walked five times, tying the school single game record for base on balls last achieved by Hunter Bledsoe in 1999. He will have a chance to go after the NCAA record (18–Shaun Larkin, Cal St. Northridge, Feb. 8-12, 2002 – 4 games) for consecutive times reaching base safely against Arkansas on Thursday.
The streak is as follows (from sixth inning on Friday on):
Friday vs. Mississippi State 5/14: Single, Double, Walk
Saturday vs. Mississippi State 5/15: Double, Walk, Single, Single, Single, Double
Sunday vs. Mississippi State 5/16: Walk, Walk, Walk, Walk, Double, Walk
For the week he was 10-for-19 (.526) with five doubles, a homer, two RBI and nine runs scored with three stolen bases.
Go-Go Gomez
Freshman infielder Anthony “Go-Go” Gomez is having a stellar year at the plate in his first season as a Commodore. The New Jersey native currently leads the team and is second in the SEC in hitting with a .418 batting average entering this weekend’s series against Arkansas.
According to statistics complied by the NCAA, he leads all freshmen in batting average and is the fourth toughest batter to strikeout in the nation with just five K’s in 158 at bats on the year. His 14 game hit streak earlier in the year still stands as the longest of the year for the Commodores.
Commodore Tidbits
Vanderbilt went 4-0 on the week, capturing a thrilling 17 inning midweek showdown over Louisville (11-10) and then sweeping Mississippi State in Starkville for the team’s second straight SEC road series win … The Commodores have now won six in a row and seven of eight entering the final weekend of conference action. VU is currently in fourth place overall in the league standings and can finish no worse than sixth by the end of play on Saturday … With Sunday’s win over Mississippi State the Commodores clinched their fifth straight SEC tournament appearance and their seventh trip to Hoover in eight seasons under Tim Corbin … The Commodores series sweep was the third straight over the Bulldogs and VU now has won 10 straight games against MSU … In two of the four games this week, the team rallied from a two-run ninth-inning deficit to tie the game and then won it in extra innings … Sophomore Jason Esposito had a record setting weekend at the plate this week, starting with his walk-off solo homer in the 17th inning against No. 8 Louisville on Tuesday. Esposito was on fire in the Commodores sweep over Mississippi State over the weekend going 8-for-11 (.727) with four doubles, six runs scored with seven walks and three stolen bases. He broke a 27-year old school record having reached base safely 15 consecutive times from Friday to Sunday (still active). Record was 14 set by Tim Brecht in 1983. On Sunday he walked five times tying the school single game record for base on balls last achieved in 1999. For the week he was 10-for-19 (.526) with five doubles, a homer, two RBI and nine runs scored with three stolen bases … Vanderbilt’s 40 runs scored this weekend ties for the most runs scored against an SEC opponent in a three-game series in school history. The Commodores have scored 40 runs against an SEC team only once and that happened in 2007 when they swept Florida in Nashville … Brian Harris went 8-for-19 (.421) on the week with four doubles, a homer and five RBI. He walked seven times and was hit by a pitch twice giving him an NCAA best 31 on the year … Connor Harrell went 7-for-17 with two doubles, four RBI and six runs scored … Curt Casali was 6-for-17 (.353) with a homer, five doubles and five RBI … Joe Loftus went 7-for-20 (.350) with three doubles, three RBI and five runs scored … Andrew Giobbi was 8-for-24 (.333) with two homers, three doubles and 10 RBI … Bryan Johns went 4-for-9 (.444) with a double, triple, home run, two runs and four RBI in three games played … As a team VU hit .340 with seven homers, 24 doubles and 51 runs scored in four games (12.75 per game) … Jack Armstrong moved to 7-1 on the year with the Commodores lone quality start of the week. He allowed two runs on nine hits in seven innings with four strikeouts and two walks on Sunday … Will Clinard picked up the win against Louisville on Tuesday with six innings of relief. For the week he allowed two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks in 6.2 innings of work … Richie Goodenow made two relief appearances and struck out five with a walk in four innings of one-hit scoreless work … As a team VU had a 5.20 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 18 walks in 45.0 innings … Vanderbilt will close out the regular season at home against Arkansas starting on Thursday. The team will recognize seven seniors prior to Friday night’s game.
Senior Day on Friday
Prior to Friday night’s game, Vanderbilt baseball will recognize eight seniors that have played an integral part in the team’s success over the last five years. The list includes two offensive starters in senior catcher Andrew Giobbi and shortstop Brian Harris (currently in grad school) as well as closer Russell Brewer, relievers Richie Goodenow and Drew Hayes, outfielder Jordan Wormsley, pitcher Mark Lamm (rehabbing from arm injury), and student assistant Alexander Levitt. The ceremony will start at 5:45 p.m.
Check Presentation To Red Cross Saturday
On May 11 Vanderbilt played a midweek game against then No. 8 Louisville with all proceeds from the game donated to the Red Cross for flood recovery efforts. The game raised over $20,000 dollars for the Red Cross with the final amount to be revealed in a check presentation prior to the game on Saturday.
Giobbi named Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist
Senior catcher Andrew Giobbi was named one of 16 semifinalists for the 2010 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award on Wednesday, May 19.
The Portland, Maine, native has had an outstanding season thus far behind the plate, having thrown out 21 of 47 runners attempting to steal. He has also caught a pitching staff (calls own game) that has a stellar 3.66 team ERA; second best in the SEC. Offensively he usually bats in the middle of the order and enters this weekend against Arkansas with a .302 batting average with six homers and 51 RBI.
Giobbi and LSU catcher Micah Gibbs were the lone representatives from the SEC to make the semifinal list.
This is the second year in a row “Gio” has been named to the watch list and the first time he has advanced as a semifinalist.
Ballots will be sent to the national voting panel at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced June 2, 2010 prior to the NCAA Regionals and Major League Baseball Draft. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at the 13th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on July 1, 2010.
Loftus Lighting It Up
Sophomore outfielder Joe Loftus, last week’s SEC Player of the Week, continued his hot hitting into last weekend’s sweep of Mississippi State. Over the last seven games the Minnesota native is hitting .382 (13-for-39) with a homer, triple, five doubles, nine runs scored and 10 RBI.
He raised his batting average from .252 at the end of April to .276 entering this weekend’s action against Arkansas and has already recorded new season highs in homers (6) and RBI (33).
Brewer Closing in Saves Record
Redshirt junior Russell Brewer recorded his sixth save of the season in the Commodores 11-10 win over Middle Tennessee on April 21, giving him 18 saves in his career. He needs one more to tie Ryan Rote who notched 19 saves in two seasons as a Commodore. Brewer is eighth in the SEC in saves and sports a 3.07 earned run average in 19 relief appearances with 39 strikeouts and eight walks in 29.1 innings pitched. He was added to the Stopper of the Year Watch List on April 15.
Player – Saves (Years at Vanderbilt)
1. Ryan Rote – 19 (2004-05)
2. Russell Brewer – 18 (2007-present)
3. David Daniels – 15 (1992-95)
Corbin Coaching Milestones
Head coach Tim Corbin notched his 307th career win at Vanderbilt against Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, April 21 moving him past Larry Schmittou (306) into second place on the school’s all-time coaching wins list. He has 315 wins entering the weekend series against Georgia. The Commodores all-time wins leader is Roy Mewbourne who went 655-608-9 from 1979-2002. Corbin notched his 400th career victory on March 24 over Wright State and recorded his 300th victory at Vanderbilt against Florida on April 4. Corbin also had 106 victories in five seasons at Presbyterian.
