June 3, 2011

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Regional Scores & Schedules

Vandy takes care of business against Belmont

By Jimmy Jones

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

(photos by Jimmy Jones)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - It was not the start to the postseason that Belmont wanted in its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.

Vanderbilt All-American Sonny Gray (left) carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning and senior catcher Curt Casali drove in three runs to pace a 10-0 Commodore victory in front of a sellout crowd at Hawkins Field on Friday night.
 
The hosts staked themselves to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when leadoff hitter Tony Kemp was hit by a pitch followed by a single by Anthony Gomez. Aaron Westlake followed with a double and Curt Casali notched two RBI with a drive into right that was good for two bases for the early lead.
 
It would be all Gray would need as he cruised through six shutout innings allowing only three hits, while tossing only 68 pitches to pick up his 11th win of the season against three losses.

The Commodores (48-10) continued to put runs on the board with five hits in the fourth inning to take advantage of two Belmont errors and post a commanding 8-0 lead.
 
"We just got off to a good start tonight," VU coach Tim Corbin said. "We were very aggressive with the bats and Sonny pitched very well. He executed his pitches, which got him to the sixth. We got three other guys some experience tonight as well in that particular situation. We had a couple big innings, three big innings really. The six-run fourth was the one that broke things open. I'm proud of the way the guys played tonight, but it's just one game and we can't take the runs into tomorrow but you can certainly take the confidence and the way we came out to play."
 

Vandy totaled 10 runs on 15 hits and no errors in the win. Sophomore right fielder Mike Yastrzemski led the Commodores at the plate with three hits.
 
The Bruins loaded the bases in the ninth when senior Vinny Casha walked, Egerton was hit by a pitch, and sophomore Drew Turner singled to left. VU reliever Jack Armstrong ended the threat with two strikeouts and a ground ball to end the game.

"What we witnessed tonight was a testament to how good a ball club Vanderbilt has this year," Belmont coach Dave Jarvis said. "This was no surprise. Sonny Gray was as good as to be expected. He was pitching at 93-94 (mph) and had dominating stuff, yet still pitching to contact. That's what I see guys in the big leagues do. He's a tick better than what we see (in the Atlantic Sun). He's definitely at the top of the list of pitchers we've seen this year.

"Give credit to their defense too, and some of the defensive plays they made behind him. They played exceptional well behind Sonny."
 
The Commodores advance to take on Troy at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday, while Belmont (36-25) will take on Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. in an elimination game.