Josh Fields saved each of Georgia’s wins over the weekend to lead the Dawgs to 4-2 (10 innings) and 12-10 victories.  Georgia (33-17-1, 19-7-1 SEC) now has a 4 game lead over both LSU (35-16-1, 15-11-1 SEC) and Vanderbilt (37-15. 15-11 SEC) heading into the last weekend of SEC play. 

LSU swept struggling Mississippi State (20-32, 7-20) to run their winning streak to 12 games.  Meanwhile, South Carolina (34-18, 13-14 SEC) dropped three to Arkansas (31-21, 13-13 SEC).  The GameCocks collapse appears to have left Georgia as the only sure bet to host a regional.  LSU seems to be in good standing with respect to earning a regional host.  Vanderbilt and Florida (30-20, 14-13) may be playing this weekend for a chance to earn a third SEC host bid.  Kentucky (38-14, 14-13) and Alabama (30-22, 14-13) also harbor hosting hopes, with Alabama unranked but traveling to Georgia for a road set that could significantly improve their profile. 

Friday SEC Recap

Saturday SEC Recap

Sunday SEC Recap

Vandy Takes Game One from UGA

Despite a big 4 run inning from UGA in which they took a one run lead at 7-6, Georgia starter Trevor Holder and the UGA bullpen could not hold down Vanderbilt’s bats.  Dominic de la Osa (pictured)  and David Macias hit 2 run homeruns and every Vandy player rapped out a hit in a 13-7 shellacking.

Holder, who entered the game with a 2.84 ERA, gave up 10 ER in 6 innings and saw his ERA baloon one run to 3.84.  The strike zone was tight, often frustrating Vanderbilt’s Mikie Minor, who allowed 3 runs on a surprising 9 hits in just 5.1 innings.  There was question as to whether any pitcher would be able to get consistent outs in the game.

Vandy’s Russell Brewer (a swingman who shares closing duties with Brett Jacobsen) came in and answered that question, striking out 7 of the 10 batters he faced to pick up his 4th win.

On the day, Rich Poythress and Lyle Allen of UGA had 4 hits apiece.  Joey Lewis had three RBI, including 2 on a fifth inning homerun.  For Vanderbilt, the top three in the order (Macias, de la Osa and Alvarez, combined for 7 runs and 10 RBI on 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 HBP). 

The teams square off again today at 3 p.m. Eastern.  Vanderbilt is currently 2 games behind Georgia atop the SEC standings and can take over 1st place by percentage points with a clean sweep. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are the SEC Weekend Pitching Matchups which is the courtesy of the SEC Media Relations Department. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
(DURHAM, N.C.) – USA Baseball announced today its initial list of 12 collegiate players who have accepted invitations for the 2008 National Team Trials held June 11-23 throughout the northeast and southeast United States. The list is comprised of eight sophomores and four freshmen. In all, 32 players will be invited to the National Team Trials with 22 of those players being selected for the National Team roster. Read the rest of this entry »

Vanderbilt sweeps Tennessee:

Knoxville - Dominic de la Osa (pictured) became Vanderbilt’s all-time hits and doubles leader with a pair of doubles on Sunday.  Vanderbilt swept the weekend despite a major home run surge by the Vols all weekend.  VU had solid pitching outings by Mikie Minor and Caleb Cotham, while Kentrell Davis impressed for Tennessee with a triple and two homers on Sunday.

• Friday - VU 8, UT 5
• Saturday - VU 9, UT 2
• Sunday - VU 10, UT 8

Georgia takes 2 of 3 from Ole Miss:

Athens - Georgia gave up a late Saturday lead to drop game two to Ole Miss; however, they stormed back on Sunday with a convincing 11-4 win behind home runs from Gordon Beckham, Lyle Allen, Matt Cerione and Michael Demperio. 

• Friday - UGA 5, OM 4
• Saturday - OM 9, UGA 4
• Sunday - UGA 11, OM 4

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, SEC Recap, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt 8, Tennessee 5:
Ryan Flaherty launched a mammoth three run home run over the scoreboard in right center in the first inning, lifting Vanderbilt over Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville.  The College Baseball Blog took in the action and provides this quick recap of the action.

Tim Corbin extended his dominance over arch rival to the east to a 13-5 record.  This was the first matchup between Corbin’s Dores against new Tennessee skipper Todd Raleigh.  The new coaching staff in orange has many ties to the Dores, with Corbin and Raleigh both Jack Leggett disciples.  Raleigh coached VU recruiting coordinator and first base coach Erik Bakich at East Carolina.  And while Corbin was an assistant at Clemson, both UT assistant Brad LeCroy and VU Director of Baseball Operations Mike Calitri were players (credit to Brandon Barca at VU for the research).  This has added a level of respect to a coaching staff rivalry where there was very quiet, but brutally clear animosity during the Rod Delmonico era.  If there are two teams in the SEC who have truly hated each other more than VU and UT over the last three years, I’m surprised a riot didn’t break out.  One can anticipate that the rivalry may turn more cordial in the future.  Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Old Dominion 13 Northeastern 0

Norfolk, Va. - Junior right-hander Dan Hudson struck out 11 in just over seven innings of work and the Monarchs of Old Dominion scored 13 runs on 16 hits to shutout the Huskies of Northeastern 13-0 at Bud Metheny Baseball Complex Saturday afternoon. Nine of the Monarchs 16 hits went for extra bases, including two doubles, three triples and four home runs.

With the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the fifth, ODU shortstop Gerard Hall took it upon himself to get the Monarchs on the board. Hall opened the inning with a single to right and promptly stole second and third base. Northeastern starter Les Williams struck out the next two Monarch batters, but with Williams pitching from the windup and with right-handed batter Jimmy Miles in the box, Hall stole home sliding up under the tag of NU catcher Frank Pesanello. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Game 1: Mississippi State 6 Kentucky 5
Game 2: Kentucky 13 Mississippi State 4

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Mississippi State and Kentucky split a Southeastern Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium on the UK campus. The Bulldogs rallied from a four-run deficit to take a 6-5 victory in the opener. The Wildcats cruised to a 13-4 victory in the second game. The two teams play the rubber game of the weekend three games series at noon CT Sunday.

MSU saw a three-game win streak snapped in the second game. The Bulldogs are now 14-16 overall and 3-8 in conference play. Kentucky, who lost at home in for the first time this year Saturday, is now 24-5 and 6-5. The 10th-ranked Wildcats are now 19-1 at home this season. Read the rest of this entry »

CBB Senior writer NYDore wrote up an extensive article (available here) about how certain players were snubbed from All-American teams especially how Ryan Flaherty was left off the NCBWA Pre-season All-American team while Derek Shunk of Villanova was named to the first team. He was only named to the third-team in the Big East last season. Read the rest of this entry »

Our good friend Jarred Amato of The Sports VU has written up a great recap of the Commodores 7-3 victory over Belmont University. He has some great thoughts on the Vanderbilt program and got some great quotes from head coach Tim Corbin. The full article is available here.

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Alabama 10 Vanderbilt 3

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Junior right-hander Robert Phares, making his first career Southeastern Conference start, turned in a dazzling performance Sunday afternoon, pitching the University of Alabama baseball team to a 10-3 series-clinching win over No. 4 Vanderbilt at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Alabama 9 Vanderbilt 7

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - University of Alabama baseball team scored in six of the eight innings to snap a season-high six-game losing streak with a 9-7 win over fourth-ranked Vanderbilt at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Alabama tallied 14 hits in the win, including two by No. 9 hitter Jeff Texada, who also belted his first career Southeastern Conference home run in the sixth inning. Freshman shortstop Josh Rutledge, freshman second baseman Ross Wilson, sophomore left fielder Brandon May and Texada all had two hits each for Alabama. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Vanderbilt 2 Alabama 1

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Sophomore southpaw Mike Minor struck out a career-high batters in a complete game 2-1 win over Alabama Friday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

Vanderbilt improved to 14-4 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, while Alabama dropped to 9-11 and 0-4 in league play.

Minor (3-1) struck out a career best 12 batters while allowing just an unearned run on eight hits in his second complete game of the season. Read the rest of this entry »

The University of Alabama will host Vanderbilt in an SEC series this weekend. Alabama enters with an overall record of 9-10 and 0-3 in the SEC after being swept by Kentucky. Brandon May is the leading hitter for the Tide with a .386 average. The team is only batting .302 on the year so they need to step it up if they expect to compete against a tough Vanderbilt squad. Read the rest of this entry »

In a game that was filled with drama that seemingly wouldn’t end, Vanderbilt outlasted South Carolina 4-3 in 13 innings and 4 hours and 14 minutes.  Leading the way was All-American Shortstop Ryan “Flash” Flaherty (5-6, 2R, 2RBI, BB).  Flaherty singled in his first three at bats and launched a game tying home run to center with two outs in the bottom of the 9th.  In the bottom of the 13th, with the bases loaded and one out, Flaherty bounced a single through the right side for the win.  Read the rest of this entry »