The Vanderbilt baseball program finally opened up fall practice on Saturday after four days of rain pushed it back. Vanderbilt made an NCAA appearance last season after going 37-27 and making the Louisville Regional Final before losing to the host Louisville Cardinals. After the season was over, Vandy top assistant Erik Bakich accepted the head coaching job with ACC member Maryland. Josh Holliday has moved into the opening after a successful run at Arizona State which saw them make the College World Series last season. You can check out the full press release from the beginning of fall practice below and a video from Coach Corbin.
FROM CBB NEWS SOUCE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt baseball’s fall practice slate has officially begun after being postponed for four days due to weather.
The original plan was for practice to be postponed from Sept. 22 till this Tuesday, Sept. 29, but with the weather clearing up head coach Tim Corbin moved things up a few days and started last Saturday. The team will practice for the next three weeks, culminating with the Black and Gold intrasquad scrimmage series on Oct. 15-16 and 18. Game times for the series are tentatively set for 6 p.m., 6 p.m. and 1 p.m.
VU will practice Tuesday-Sunday every week and take Monday’s off. During the week the practices start at 2:30 p.m. and on the weekends the plan is to start at 10 a.m. All of the practices are open to the public with times subject to change due to weather.
The Commodores return seven offensive starters and 10 pitchers from last year’s team that finished 37-27 overall and reached the NCAA Louisville Regional championship round.
Sophomore first baseman/designated hitter Aaron Westlake, the Southeastern Conference batting champion in 2009, earned Freshman All-American plaudits after hitting .377 with 10 homers and 57 RBI.
The entire infield returns intact led by All-SEC shortstop Brian Harris (.299, 9 HR, 45 RBI). The senior was a steady influence in the field in his first year as a full-time starter; with just seven errors overall and only two in SEC play.
Sophomore Riley Reynolds hit .332 as the starting second baseman en route to Freshman All-American honors. He worked out in Nashville over the summer and added 10 pounds to strengthen his game.
Junior Curt Casali (.336, 10 HR, 59 RBI) played first base last year due to an arm injury that required Tommy John surgery over the summer. He will be able to hit in the fall while continuing to rehab and should be able to catch at some point next spring.
Senior catcher Andrew Giobbi (.289, 6 HR, 41 RBI) is at full strength after missing significant action last year due to a broken bone in his hand.
Sophomore third baseman Jason Esposito (.287, 4 HR, 42 RBI) was one of three players to start in every game in 2009 and should improve offensively in his second year.
The outfield will have two new starters with the departures of All-SEC performer Steven Liddle (.348, 10 HR, 51 RBI) and senior Jonathan White (.266, 18-21 stolen bases). Sophomore Joe Loftus (.263, 4 HR, 28 RBI) moved from the infield into the outfield and started in 55 games, 42 in left field.
VU will look to replace its top three hurlers in terms of innings pitched from a year ago in Mike Minor, Caleb Cotham and Nick Christiani. The trio combined to record 19 of the team’s 37 wins while also recording 267 strikeouts in 258 innings pitched. Minor was the seventh overall pick in the draft by the Atlanta Braves, while Cotham was picked in the fifth round by the New York Yankees and Christiani was selected in the 13th round by the Cincinnati Reds.
Sophomore right-hander Sonny Gray is expected to anchor the staff as the Friday night starter after earning Freshman All-American honors a year ago. He went 5-1 with a 4.30 ERA while recording 72 strikeouts in 58.2 innings of work. Gray had an outstanding summer with the USA National Baseball Team, recording a 3-1 ledger with a 0.75 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 24 innings.
Several players will vie for spots in the rotation with Gray and the coaches will use the fall to determine roles on the staff.
Junior right-hander Russell Brewer returns in relief after he went 1-2 with a 2.96 ERA last season and recorded four saves, giving him 12 for his career.
"We are excited to get back on the field as a team and the weather looks really nice this week," said Corbin. "We have a lot of experience returning on the offensive side and we have several guys that gained experience on the pitching end as well. We have some positions to fill on both sides and I think we will see a nice competition for those spots this fall."
In addition to the returning veterans, VU added 11 newcomers from a class that was ranked No. 8 in the country by Collegiate Baseball.
After fall practice is over the team will travel to Japan and Hong Kong in November and will play four contests against Japanese university teams. The spring season will start the weekend of Feb. 19-21 with the full schedule to be announced in the coming weeks.
"In the past we would practice with the long-range goal of preparing for the spring, but now the kids will also use the time to get ready for the games in Japan," added Corbin.
