Feb. 24, 2007
By Will Matthews
Recap: No. 1 Vanderbilt Hammers Ball State 15-3 – click to read
NASHVILLE – When Vanderbilt catcher Andrew Giobbi came to the plate in the fourth inning Saturday with two out and the bases loaded, he could have been excused had he not come through in the clutch.
But the redshirt freshman making his first career start didn’t act the part and took advantage of the opportunity by lacing a two-run single to left that extended Vanderbilt’s lead to 7-0 and essentially ended whatever drama might have been left in a 15-3 Commodore victory over Ball State.
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| Catcher Andrew Giobbi contributed to Vanderbilt’s 15-3 victory by lacing a two-out two-run single in the fourth inning. |
It was one of 10 hits Vanderbilt collected Saturday with runners in scoring position, seven of which came with two out.
“I am happy about the fact that we are hitting with two out,” Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin said following No. 1 Vanderbilt’s ninth consecutive win to open the 2007 season. “Giobbi steps in there and gets a hit with runners in scoring position and two outs with two strikes. And I think all year we have done that well. And I think that says something. The kids keep grinding in a situation like that. It is not the easiest situation in the world to hit in. But you have a kid who has never really started before and he gets a nice, clean hit. I like that. It’s pretty good hitting.”
Sophomore designated hitter Kurt Lipton followed Giobbi with an infield single to extend the inning and, after junior center fielder David Macias was hit by a pitch, junior second baseman Alex Fineberg singled up the middle to drive in two more runs.
It was an inning that serves as a microcosm of everything that Vanderbilt is doing right offensively. The Commodores are batting .358 overall as a team, but Corbin is quick to acknowledge that statistic can sometimes be hollow. One of the best indicators, Corbin says, of a team’s offensive prowess is its ability to hit in clutch situations.
It is an area that Vanderbilt struggled in at times last year and an area that Corbin identified prior to the season as being one in which his club would have to improve for them to reach the lofty goals they have set for themselves.
Vanderbilt apparently has gotten the message. The Commodores are hitting .340 as a team with runners in scoring position, and an eye-popping .349 with runners in scoring position and two outs after going 7-for-13 in that situation Saturday.
“That’s the best we have done in five years here, no question,” Corbin said. “We have been able to put the ball in play hard with runners in scoring position, and that hasn’t always been the case in past years.”
Vanderbilt’s lineup Saturday included five upper classmen and three sophomores, something Corbin pointed to as playing a significant role in his team’s early season success hitting in the clutch.
“It is all about age. Age is the key,” Corbin said. “Age equates to plate discipline and I think that is what is happening right now. I think you have some older kids at the plate who are saying `that’s not a strike and this is’ and `I am going to attack this pitch and lay off that one.’ That is the difference.”
Corbin said Saturday that he is hopeful that his team’s clutch hitting will be something that will come to define Vanderbilt throughout the season.
“We have never hit like this early in the season, so I am hoping that this is a true read of what we are and that it will carry through the rest of the season,” Corbin said. “Hitting is very contagious, as everything else. People start feeling good about it, and the more times you repeat that act of getting hits with runners in scoring position, of getting hits with two outs, the more you rally begin to think that is who you are. I think this team is really beginning to think of itself as a team that can hit with runners in scoring position and when there are two outs and that confidence is something that is very important.”
