Vandy Baseball Makes First Trip to Omaha in School History

By - Brian Harrington

This past weekend, the Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team clinched their first trip to Omaha for the NCAA College World Series with a 9-3 win over a very talented Oregon State Beavers team.

Photo by: Alan Poizner

Vandy has been downright dominant this season, posting a 52-10 record (33-4 at home, 16-5 on the road, 3-1 on neutral sites, and 25-9 in the SEC), but the most astounding statistic is that they've outscored their opponents 441-172. That's just insane.

The team is led by seventh year coach Tim Corbin, who has turned them from the punching bag of the SEC to a title contender. On offense, their led by junior first baseman Aaron Westlake, who has a .353 batting average and 17 home runs. Junior Sonny Gray leds the pitching staff with a 13-3 record and 1.97 earned run average. Gray was a four year starter and letter-man in baseball and also a two year captain and three year letter-man as the quarterback for Smyrna H.S. right here in Tennessee. Another star player on the team is sophomore outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, grandson of Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, who was the last man to win the triple crown in Major League Baseball (1964).

Vandy will face UNC in the first round this Saturday. If the Commodores win the College World Series, it would be only the 2nd National Championship of any kind in school history. The other one? The 2008 Women's Bowling Championship. This school needs this title, and I believe they have the offense and the pitching prowess to pull it off.