The USA BaseBlog is a new web site feature found only on the baseball page at www.usajaguars.com. David Kaye, USA baseball's athletic media relations contact, provides an all-access look into Jag baseball. This is the fifth entry in a series counting down the 10 best games of the 2009 baseball season.
No. 6 - USA vs. Vanderbilt, March 17 (Hawkins Field)
Thank you for taking the time to browse the baseball page. If you have a question or comment, please feel free to e-mail me. The 2009 USA Baseball Season Outlook is now available online.
USA's midweek tilt with perennial power Vanderbilt ranks as the sixth-best game on the Jags' 2009 slate. The Jags stop in Nashville on their way home from a conference-opening series at Western Kentucky. With WKU projected to top the Sun Belt Conference, and Vanderbilt coming off a 41-22 season, this could prove to be the finale of the Jags' toughest four-game stretch of the season.
Vanderbilt took third place in the NCAA Tempe, Ariz. Regional a year ago, but the Commodores look to have a much different team in 2009. With the loss of six of its top seven hitters, the Vanderbilt offense will turn to a different cast of characters to step in and produce. VU's 2007 recruiting class was ranked 12th-best in the nation by Baseball America, and many of those players will get their first opportunities to see significant playing time as sophomores in 2009.
That class was headlined by C Curt Casali, IFs Aaron Westlake and Gabe Ortiz and OF Joey Manning. Casali made 17 starts in 2009, but the other three players made a collective six starts.
While VU has plent of holes to fill in its offense, the Commodores return all three members of their 2008 weekend pitching rotation. However, USA and VU square off in a midweek game, so it's unlikely the Jags will face any of those three. Possible starters for Vanderbilt are RHP Taylor Hill and RHP Chase Reid, who started eight and two games, respectively, in 2008. VU could also turn to LHP Sean Bierman, who made a pair of starts a year ago, or incoming freshman RHP Sonny Gray.
If the returnees need any assistance, VU coach Tim Corbin will have plenty of options with 13 players out of a 2008 recruiting class that was ranked second in the nation. 11 of those players were drafted prior to joining the Commodores, with shortstop Jason Esposito, who was selected in seventh round by Kansas City Royals, the highest selection. Baseball America ranked Gray the 52nd-best prospect in the nation, and with all three weekend starters returning, there's a chance he could be the pick to face the Jags in March.
With so much talent on their roster, it's easy to see why Vanderbilt tallied the highest number of votes of any team not ranked in Collegiate Baseball's preseason top 40 poll. When the Jags head to Nashville for the teams' first meeting since 1997, USA will have the opportunity to make a statement on a national stage. Hopefully they'll do so after having made a statement to the conference by winning the series at Western Kentucky just days earlier.
Notes: USA is 8-4 in the all-time series with Vanderbilt ... The Jags are 5-1 at Stanky Field, 2-3 in Nashville and 1-0 at neutral sites ... USA last faced Vanderbilt in 1997 at the Blue-Gray Classic in Montgomery, Ala. ... USA won the tournament by defeating VU 6-2 ... The last time the two teams met in Nashville was in 1983, and the Commodores haven't traveled to Stanky Field since 1975 ... USA catcher Stuart Barton and Vanderbilt LHP Ben Blanton are both from the same hometown of Alpharetta, Ga., though they attended different high schools ... USA freshman OF Brad Montgomery played on the same high school team as VU freshman LHP Corey Williams at Madison Academy in Huntsville, Ala.
TOP 10 GAMES OF 2009 COUNTDOWN
| No. |
Game |
Date (Site) |
Points |
| 1. |
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
USA at Vanderbilt |
March 17, 2009 (Hawkins Field) |
80 |
| 7. |
Southern Miss at USA |
May 12, 2009 (Stanky Field) |
72
|
| 8. |
Mississippi State at USA |
March 24, 2009 (Stanky Field) |
70 |
| 9. |
USA at Baylor |
March 6, 2009 (Baylor Ballpark) |
58 |
| 10. |
Troy at USA |
May 16, 2009 (Stanky Field) |
57 |
Click below to view previous entries in the USA BaseBlog ...
Dec. 26, 2008 - "Interview with Coach Kittrell"
Dec. 24, 2008 - "Counting Down the Top 10 Games of 2009 -- No. 7 USA vs. Southern Miss (May 12)
Dec. 20, 2008 - "Counting Down the Top 10 Games of 2009 -- No. 8 USA vs. Mississippi State (March 24)
Dec. 14, 2008 - "Counting Down the Top 10 Games of 2009 -- No. 9 USA vs. Baylor (March 6)
Dec. 11, 2008 - "Counting Down the Top 10 Games of 2009 -- No. 10 USA vs. Troy (May 16)
Dec. 4, 2008 - "Meet Corey Powell"
Nov. 25, 2008 - "Seven for 2010, Plus 10 for 2009"
Nov. 21, 2008 - "Recruiting for 2010"
Nov. 14, 2008 - "Signing On"
