Week 12 Vanderbilt Baseball Notebook

Overall: 31-21, 12-14 SEC; Record Last Week: 4-1

Last Week:
5/5: Vanderbilt 8, Belmont 6 Gm 1 (Hawkins Field)
5/5: Vanderbilt 3, Belmont 0 Gm 2 (Hawkins Field)
5/8: Vanderbilt 10, Georgia 2 (Athens)
5/9: Vanderbilt 9, Georgia 2 (Athens)
5/10: Georgia 4, Vanderbilt 3 (Athens)

This Week (Buy Tickets):
Please note the UT series starts Thursday
5/14: vs. Tennessee - 6 p.m. CT
5/15: vs. Tennessee - 6 p.m. CT
5/16: vs. Tennessee - Noon CT (CSS)

Notes:
Vanderbilt went 4-1 on the week with a midweek doubleheader sweep over Belmont and a series win over Georgia in Athens over the weekend … The Commodores magic number is two to reach their fourth straight Southeastern Conference tournament and sixth in seven seasons under Tim Corbin. Two wins or a win and Kentucky loss would solidify a spot in the eight-team field. Depending on outcomes this week, VU could finish as high as sixth and as low as ninth.

After a rough week at South Carolina, the Commodore pitching staff rebounded with a stellar five games, posting a 3.15 team ERA with 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 40.0 innings of work with two complete games … Nick Christiani started the solid week out with a complete game shutout over Belmont on Tuesday ... Sonny Gray made his first collegiate start Friday night in Athens and held No. 12 Georgia to just one run on three hits (all singles) in six innings to pick up the win. He struck out seven and walked four in moving to 4-1 on the year … Minor threw his first complete game of the year in a series clinching win over No. 12 Georgia on Saturday in Athens. He struck out 12 batters, one off his career high, while allowing two runs on five hits with two walks. He held the Bulldogs hitless and scoreless in seven of the nine innings pitched as UGA scored a run on three hits in the fourth and another on two hits in the eighth.

Grayson Garvin (0.2), Richie Goodenow (0.2) and Chase Reid (0.1) did not allow a run in their appearances on the week … The pitchers held a powerful Georgia lineup to just eight runs on the weekend, four coming in the series finale on Sunday. The Bulldogs were limited to just a .185 batting average while striking out 32 times in 26.0 innings.

Offensively the Commodores jumped out to 4-0 leads in the first inning of both the Friday and Saturday wins over Georgia. The team hit .318 on the week with four homers, eight doubles and 33 runs scored … Aaron Westlake led the Commodores to a 4-1 week, going 10-for-17 (.588) with two homers, five RBI and seven runs scored. He vaulted into the SEC batting title lead with a 7-for-11 (.636) weekend against Georgia, with two homers, five RBI and five runs scored. He now leads the conference with a .395 batting average along with six homers and 44 RBI … Andrew Giobbi went 7-for-17 (.412) with a homer, two doubles and six RBI … Freshman Riley Reynolds was 8-for-21 (.381) with a double and five RBI, while fellow frosh Joe Loftus went 6-for-16 (.375) with a RBI and three runs scored.

The Commodores close out the regular season against in-state rival Tennessee starting on Thursday at Hawkins Field. Prior to Saturday’s game the Commodores will honor seniors Nick Christiani and Jonathan White. The two along with redshirt junior Brian Harris graduated from Vanderbilt on Monday morning.