The now No.4 Vanderbilt Baseball team (D1Baseball.com rankings) just swept the Auburn Tigers with some more stellar hitting and excellent starting pitching in a 9-5 victory before 3,625 fans at Hawkins Field on Saturday.

We moved to 34-9 overall and 15-6 in the SEC and are tied with Arkansas for the co-lead in the conference. If we ended up tied with the Razorbacks in the standings, we would win the tiebreaker by virtue of our head to head matchup in which we won 2 of 3. Georgia, Mississippi State and Ole Miss are each at 13-8. Texas A&M is next at 11-9-1. In the national rankings, UCLA is ranked No.1 (34-7), Stanford is No.2 (31-7), Oregon State is No.3 (31-10-1) Arkansas is No.5 (34-11), Mississippi State is No.6 (36-9)and Georgia is No.9 (33-12).

We pounded out 15 hits against Tigers pitching on Saturday. The sensational JJ Bleday connected on his 21st homer of the season. A two run shot over the right central field wall to score Austin Martin, who reached after being hit by a pitch. JJ is once again tied Kody Hoese of Tulane for the national lead with those 21 homers. Pat DeMarco was 4 for 5 with an RBI and his average keeps climbing. It is now at .276. It was .230 about 2 weeks ago, so Pat, after his hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for a month, is back to being the awesome Pat DeMarco. Harrison Ray was 3 for 4 with an RBI and a triple. He also made a terrific head first slide at home to beat a throw to the plate on a sac fly by Julian Infante. Ethan Paul, Philip Clarke, and Ty Duvall each collected 2 hits on the afternoon. It was an awesome performance by the bats once again. We are now batting .317 as a team. Austin is hitting .405 with 11 doubles, 4 triples and 6 stolen bases, Ethan is hitting .353 with 15 doubles, 5 homers and 49 Ribeyes, JJ is hitting .343 with 21 homers and 56 Ribbies, Philip is hitting .325 with 11 doubles, 2 triples, 6 homers and 48 RBIs, Stephen Scott, who got injured Friday Night sliding into the left field wall trying to catch a fly ball in foul territory and missed Saturday’s game, is hitting .323 with a team leading 15 doubles, 6 homers and 34 RBIs. Harrison Ray is batting .286 after his big day on Saturday, and has 6 doubles, 2 triples and is 13 of 16 in stolen bases. We stole 3 bases Saturday with DeMarco getting 2, his 3rd and 4th on the season. Ethan Paul stole his 6th base of the year. We did some more running on Saturday. This program has a tradition for stealing bases, and we’ve looked more aggressive on the base paths lately. We made a couple of running miscues this past weekend we’ll need to make sure we don’t let happen again. We are 45-of-61, 74%, in stolen bases. Our opponents are 27-of-40, 68%, so that’s a weapon to our advantage.

Patrick Raby put together another terrific start on Saturday, with our third stellar start in a row against Auburn. Rabes went 6.1 innings, gave up 5 hits, 1 run with 4 walks and 8 K’s. The home plate umpire had a pretty tight strike zone, so some of those walks came on very close pitches. Jake Eder came in and got hit around some, but Ethan Smith came in for the 9th and closed it out. Rabes moved to 7-1 on the season with a 2.77 ERA. Mason Hickman who came in relief of Drake Fellows on Thursday Night and pitched 4 solid innings, is 5-0 with a 2.04 ERA. Mason has been primarily our midweek guy. He’ll probably get the call tomorrow night against Tennessee Tech with first pitch at 6:30 at the Hawk with SEC Network+ broadcasting. Drake has been superb going a nation leading 9-0 with a 3.67 ERA. He had to battle Thursday Night through some incredibly challenging weather conditions, it was pouring and hard to grip the ball, but he recorded another victory to his and his team’s resume. Kumar Rocker was sensational again and is now 5-4 with a 4.31 ERA. But he has walked only 13 and struck out 51. His last 4 starts have been spectacular. He has lived up to his billing as one of the top recruits in the country in 2018. Our bullpen, besides Tyler Brown, Ethan Smith and most of the time Hugh Fisher, has struggled. We need to keep solidifying that group so we can be really a strong team heading into May. Great stuff from this baseball team though. Defense is very solid fielding at a .982 clip, 2nd in the conference and top 5 in the country. Our opponents are fielding at a .970 percentage.

We play @ South Carolina this weekend with Friday’s game at 6 PM CT on SEC Network+, Saturday’s game at 7 PM CT on ESPNU, and Sunday’s game at 12:30 PM CT on SEC Network+.

MLB guys

Dansby Swanson

Dans is hitting .250 for the Braves with 5 homers, 22 Ribbies, 5 doubles and 2 triples. He’s also stolen 2 out of 3 bases. Would like to see Dans get on board and run some more because he’s so fast. He was 1 for 3 yesterday with an RBI double in the Braves 8-7 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Sun Trust Stadium in Atlanta. The Braves are now 13-14 and 2 1/2 games back of the Phillies in the NL East. The Phils are 16-12. The Mets are 2nd at 14-13 and the Braves are 3rd. The Braves have been playing pretty well this season, just need some more consistency with the pitching. Bats are excellent. The Braves play the resurgent San Diego Padres in a 4 game series starting tonight at home. First pitches for tonight through Wednesday’s games are at 6:20 CT. Thursday’s game is at 11:10 AM CT. Then the Braves will head to Miami to play the Marlins over the weekend.

Bryan Reynolds

Bryan has gotten off to a blazing start for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 24 year old rookie is hitting .429 with 9 hits in 21 plate appearances. Bryan has collected 4 doubles. He got a hit as a pinch hitter yesterday in a 7-6 loss to the Dodgers. Bryan is playing center for the Pirates. The Bucs are 12-14 and 4 1/2 games back of the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals, which are 17-10.

Tony Kemp

Tony has gotten off to a slow start this season for the Astros hitting only .184 but had a homer and a triple in the past week. He’s playing exceptional defense in left field as always. Would like to see Tony get that bat going because he is certainly capable of putting up stellar hitting numbers and he always plays outstanding defense and can steal bases with his gazelle like speed. The Astros are tough once again at 17-11 and leading the AL West by a 1/2 game over the Seattle Mariners, which are 18-13.

Curt Casali

Curt is hitting .306 with 0 homers and 5 RBIs for the Cincinnati Reds. Curt had a big game Friday Night versus the Cardinals in a 12-1 Reds’ victory. He was 3 for 5 with a double and 4 Ribeyes. He’s been doing an awesome job backing up the Reds starting catcher, Tucker Barnhart. The Reds are struggling a little at 11-18, but only 6 back of the Cards and have played some good baseball at times this season.

Sonny Gray

Sonny, of the Reds, lost a tough one to St. Louis yesterday, 5-2. Sonny pitched 5, gave up 3 hits, 2 earned runs, with a pair of walks and 5 K’s. He’s pitched well this season, but has no victories to show for it. Sonny is 0-4 with a 3.64 ERA and an 0.98 WHIP (walks +hits per inning pitched). The ERA is good and the WHIP is excellent. Anything under 1.10 is very good. Anything under 1.00 is terrific. If Sonny keeps pitching like this, good things are going to happen for him and his club.

Mike Minor

Mike, who has been awesome this season, was once again awesome Saturday Night going 7, giving up only 3 hits, 1 earned, a homer, with a walk and 13 K’s. Mike threw 111 pitches with 76 for strikes against 35 balls a better than 2:1 strike to ball ratio which is the baseline ratio of what you need to be successful. Mike is now 3-2 with a 2.88 ERA, an 0.91 WHIP and a .179 batters average against him, which is sensational. He has walked 12 and struck out 39. Mike has been phenomenal this season. The Rangers are playing solid baseball at 14-13 and only 2 1/2 back of the Astros in the AL West.

David Price

David took a hard luck loss Saturday, 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays. Dave went 6, gave up 4 hits, 2 earned, with 3 walks and 7 K’s. He gave up one homer to Tommy Pham of the Rays. David has pitched well. In 5 starts, his record is only 1-2, but his ERA is 3.60 and his WHIP is 1.07. Opponents batting average is .220 against him which is excellent. He has walked 8 and struck out 37. The Sox have dug themselves a hole. They lost 2 of 3 to the Rays at Fenway over the weekend to drop to 11-17 on the season. They’ve had some injuries to key players, but they need to get it together right now. They are 7 1/2 back of the Rays in the AL East. The amazing Rays are 18-9 and lead the surging Yankees (17-11) by a game and a half.

Walker Buehler

Walker has struggled some this season for the Dodgers though the team is doing well. Walk is 2-0, which is good, but has a 5,25 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP, Opponents are hitting .230 against him which is solid. He’s walked 8 and K’d 18. I think Walker is still dealing with an injury he sustained in spring training. Not the Walker Buehler we’re used to yet, but I’m sure he’ll get it crankin soon. Walker pitches tomorrow night @ the Giants. The Dodgers are 19-11 and lead the San Diego Padres by 2 games in the NL West..

Drew VerHagen

Drew is hanging tough with the Detroit Tigers as he is 1-0 with a 7.71 ERA. He has 7 walks and 7 K’s,. Needs to pick it up a little bit to play a more important role in the Tigers’ prospects this season. The Tigers are playing decent baseball at 12-14 and 4 1/2 games back of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. The Tigers are in 3rd. The Cleveland Indians are 2 back and in 2nd place at 15-12.

Stack lands commit for 2019

Vanderbilt Basketball Coach Jerry Stackhouse landed a third player to this 2019 class as 6’6”, 200 pound 87, 3 star small forward Jordan Wright committed to VU on Friday. Jordan is from Baton Rouge, LA, and chose us over offers from Georgia Tech, Houston, Texas A&M, TCU, Virginia Tech and Minnesota among others. Jordan was an all state and all metro selection by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and helped his school Dunham win the Division III championship in 2018.

This season, he averaged 19.1 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists and was named first team All State in Louisiana by USA Today. According to the Baton Rouge Advocate in his senior season, Jordan scored a 30 on his ACT.

Jordan is the third pledge to the class joining 93 4 star power forward Dylan Disu (6’8”, 210) and 87 3 star point guard Scotty Pippen Jr., a 6’1” point guard. Both Disu and Pippen Jr have signed. Expecting Wright’s signature soon.

Stack may not be through with this class. There could be another commit-signee from high school and a transfer. We lost 4 star small forward Austin Crowley when Bryce Drew was fired and Yanni Wetzell and Matt Ryan appear to be transferring and Darius Garland and Simi Shittu going pro, but we have a pretty solid nucleus assembled for next season. With these 3 additions and maybe 1 or 2 more to go along with Saben Lee, Ejike Obinna, who is 6’10” and coming off a redshirt season, Aaron Nesmith, our great shooting guard, Maxwell Evans, who has good talent, 6’ 9” Clevon Brown and 6’9” power forward Matthew Moyer, we’ve got potential. Another player or 2 would help. Good stuff from Stack and the program. Will keep you posted.

New NFL guys from our program

As reported earlier, Joejuan Williams was selected in the second round by the New England Patriots joining established Patriots defensive tackle Adam Butler from VU. Justin Skule was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 6th round. He’ll join Jordan Matthews in the Bay Area. JMatt signed a deal with the 49ers in the offseason. Kyle Shurmur signed as a free agent by the Kanas City Chiefs. Maybe Kyle can develop out there and if Patrick Mahomes has any injury issues, Kyle can get a shot. Running back Khari Blassingame signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Vikings joining Vanderbilt standout and Vikings starting defensive end Stephen Weatherly in MInnesota. Center Bruno Reagan will join Kyle in Kansas City as a free agent. Defensive end Dare Odeyingbo signed as a free agent deal with the Tampa Bay Bucs. Josh Smith, an excellent linebacker for us, signed with the Green Bay Packers where he will join Oren Burks, who is trying to make his way in Green Bay. Louis Vecchio, who had a very solid year for us as a graduate transfer from Penn, signed a free agent deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. Didn’t see anything on Jordan Griffin, which was surprising. Hoping Jordan can get picked up as well. He was a tackling machine for us last year and a total leader on his team.

Men’s Golf

The Men’s Golf team fell heartbreakingly to Arkansas in the quarterfinals of the SEC Championships on Saturday. We lost the Match Play match 3-2 to the Razorbacks. We had a 2-1 lead with 2 matches left, but Reid Davenport and Harrison Ott were defeated in 19 holes. Tough one. But we’re in the NCAA field which will be announced this Wednesday at 8 PM CT on Golf Channel’s Golf Central program. Play will begin on Monday, May 13th. Will let you know where we go. There are 81 teams and 45 individuals that will be selected to the 6 regional sites. The 45 individual players are from teams that don’t qualify for the NCAA’s. Thirteen teams and 10 individuals will qualify at 3 sites and 14 teams and 5 individuals will qualify at the other 3 sites. The host sites are Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Washington, Stanford Golf Course at Stanford, CA., TPC Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, University of Louisville Golf Club in Kentucky, University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens and University of Texas Golf Club in Austin. The top 5 teams for each regional advance to the NCAA Championships at Blessings Golf Course in Fayetteville, Arkansas, May 24th-29th.

Disappointing finish for our team, but Arkansas did win it all, so we gave them everything they wanted and it was probably a good learning experience for our team heading into the NCAA’s. Will let you know on where we go after it’s announced Wednesday.

Women’s, Men’s Tennis

The Men’s and Women’s Tennis selection show is today at 5 and 5:30 PM CT. The Men’s Field will be announced at 5 PM CT and the Women will be announced at 5:30 PM CT.

The Women finished the season at 16-7 overall and 10-3 in the SEC’s falling to South Carolina in the semifinals of the SEC Championships after winning their quarterfinal match over Kentucky. But the women had a super year and Fernanda Contreras and Christina Rosca were named first team All SEC and freshman Georgia Drummy was named second team All SEC and named to the all Freshman team. We’ve got a great team and have a shot to go plenty of distance in the NCAA’s which we always do under Geoff McDonald. We are presently ranked 7th in the country..

The Men finished the season 34th in the country and Cameron Klinger was selected 2nd team All SEC. Cameron is ranked 87th in the country. We finished the season 15-11 and 4-8 in the SEC and lost to Kentucky in the second round of the SEC Tournament after winning in the opening round over Kentucky, 4-1.

So exciting stuff for both teams. Will let you know where our teams are headed. The women will most likely be hosting, while the men will probably have to travel.

Women’s Golf

Our No.7 Women’s Golf team has been selected to play in the Auburn Regional. There are 18 teams in 4 regional sites. The top 6 teams from each regional advance to the NCAA Championships at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Auburn regional will commence next Monday, May 6th and continue through Thursday, May 9th. The NCAA Championships will take place May 17th-22nd. Abby Carlson is ranked 2lst in the country and Austin Kim is 27th. In our regional, No.2 Duke is competing, No.9 Florida State, No.13 Auburn, No. 17 Virginia No. 26 Furman, No. 29 Clemson and No. 36 Alabama amongst the 18 team field.

Kumar Rocker was sensational last night in leading the No.5 Commodores to a 5-2 victory over Auburn in game 2 of the series before 3,534 fans at Hawkins Field.

Our hard throwing freshman right hander went 7, gave up 6 hits, 2 runs, with 1 walk and 10 ringups.
Kumar was dominating only allowing a run in the 4th and a run in the 5th. His fastball was hitting 91-93 and he had complete command of it and his breaking ball and change up were un-hittable. Kumar moved to 5-4 with a 4.09 ERA. He has been lights out the last 4 games he’s pitched and is showing why he was such a highly coveted recruit that Corbs somehow lured from the MLB draft. His father and mother were in attendance cheering him on. Kumar’s dad, Tracy, was the great defensive tackle for Auburn in the late 80’s and is a stellar veteran assistant football coach now at Tennessee, unfortunately.
 
Stephen Scott gave us the bulk of our runs with a 3 run shot in the first inning over the right central field wall. That was Stephen’s 6th homer of the season, and his 32nd, 33rd and 34th Ribeyes.

Ethan Paul and Harrison Ray also added RBI’S.

Austin Martin was 3 for 5 and is now hitting .416. That’s a wow and is leading the SEC. A Mar is on fire. Philip Clarke was 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and raised his average to .323. Philip has been spectacular at the plate and behind the dish. Ty Duvall was also 2 for 4.

Hugh Fisher pitched the 8th and the 9th and got into a couple of bases loaded jams in both innings, but pitched out of them to record his 3rd save of the season. Hugh has a 2.16 ERA.

The Commodores moved to 33-9 and 14-6 in SEC play and now lead the SEC standings overall. No.4 Georgia lost to No.8 Mississippi State at State last night, 19-3, to fall to 13-6 in conference play. No.9 Arkansas is leading the west at 13-6.

So big game 3 today at 1 PM on SEC Network+. Patrick Raby takes the hill for us. Rabes is 6-1 with a 2.94 ERA and pitched well last Sunday at Alabama. Rabes will face Auburn lefty Brooks Fuller, who is 2-1 with a 3.78 ERA. Would be huge to get a sweep over a pretty good Tigers team.

Men’s Golf at the SEC’s

The Men’s Golf    
team finished 2nd to Auburn at the SEC Championship stroke play yesterday to qualify for the 8 team match play today.

Auburn shot -24 and we finished -8 in a tough day for scoring with a lot of wind and difficult pin placements.

We just started teeing off against Arkansas in the quarters. The quarterfinals and semifinals are today and the finals are tomorrow at Sea Island, GA. with the SEC Network televising the finals tomorrow at 6:30 AM CT. Need a big performance from Will Gordon, Patrick Martin, Johnny “Clutch” Augenstein , Harrison Ott and Reid Davenport. We’ve got an awesome team. As Coach Scott Limbaugh said yesterday, we hope to get a lot of fans out to the Seaside Course supporting our team. Huge day for golf. Will keep you posted today on both teams.

Joejuan Williams

Our superb cornerback was selected by the New England Patriots in the 2nd round as the 45th pick. Huge stuff for the man. Adam Butler is already a key member of the Pats. Bill Belichick likes Vanderbilt football players. Can’t wait to see Joejuan and Adam compete next year for the 6 time Super Bowl champs.

Kyle Shurmur, Justin Skule, Bruno Reagan, Jordan Griffin, LaDarius Wiley, Josh Smith and Dare Odeyingbo still on the board. Hope all of them get drafted, but if not, get signed as free agents and have a chance to make their respective teams. Will keep you posted on all our guys’ prospects.

Austin Martin was 3 for 4 with 3 Ribeyes, 2 stolen bases and 2 runs scored to lead the No.5 Commodores to a 12-6 victory over No. 25 Auburn last night at Hawkins Field.

The great Austin is now hitting .409 on the season and leading the SEC in hitting. Ethan Paul, Philip Clarke, Stephen Scott and Pat DeMarco each had 2 hits. Scott belted his 5th homer of the season and 22nd in his career over the right central field wall in the 2nd inning part of a 3 run 2nd. The Dores scored 4 times in the 3rd, 4 times in the 6th and added a run in the 7th. Julian Infante had a 2 run single and Paul, Clarke, Harrison Ray, Scott and DeMarco each had an RBI.

Drake Fellows started and performed pretty well in challenging pitching conditions with a hard rain going on in the first 3 innings of his start. It was tough to grip the ball. Auburn starter Tanner Burns had trouble as well and there were wild pitches and hit batters. There was a stoppage of play in the 3rd due to the weather. But Drake hung tough like he always does and got through 5, giving up 6 hits, 4 earned with 1 walk and 4 K’s. Mason Hickman, who has been sensational in mid week games this season, pitched the final 4 frames, giving up 4 hits, 2 earned with 2 walks and 8 K’s. Both Drake and Mason are strike throwers. That is such an asset in pitching. The fielders know to be alert because the pitcher is always going to be around the plate. Drake moved to a nation leading 9-0 and has a 3.67 ERA. Mason picked up his 3rd save and is now 5-0 with 3 saves and a sparkling 2.04 ERA.

We moved to 32-9 overall and 13-6 in the SEC. We are now tied with Georgia for the SEC East lead and both us and Georgia lead the conference overall with our 13-6 records. Arkansas leads the west at 12-6 . No.4 Georgia plays at No.9 Mississippi State this weekend and No.8 Arkansas hosts No. 20 Tennessee for a weekend set with both series starting tonight.

We face Auburn again tonight at 7 on the SEC Network. Freshman Kumar Rocker (4-4, 4.61 ERA) gets the call for us and Kumar will square off with Auburn righty Richard Fitts (3-2, 4.55 ERA).

Great stuff happening with the team. Need to keep it cookin.

Scotty Pippen Jr.

SP2 has now signed with Stack and Vanderbilt. That gives us 2 signees for this 2019 class along with 6’8” 4 star power forward Dylan Disu. SP2 is a high 3 star point guard with a ton of skill. He could step in right away next season and allow Saben to move over to the 2 which would be huge for us as Saban could dominate at the 2 spot. We are going to lose Simi Shittu to the draft and Matt Ryan and Yanni Wetzell are most likely transferring, but Coach Stackhouse is still out recruiting hard for players in this 2019 class and for 2020. There are some quality guys left and Stack and assistant David Grace are working hard to secure another player or 2 for this class and for players in 2020. Like what Stack is doing. He’s an awesome guy, and with his credentials, he can land some big names. Next year will be interesting. We won’t have a ton of depth underneath, but we’ll have enough, and a good backcourt, so we can be very competitive and have a shot at the tournament. And I like the way Stack is shaping this program up for the future. SP2 is a 6’1”, 165 point guard. He needs to put on some more size, but he is highly skilled and can give us supreme quickness with Saben in the backcourt. He is also Scottie Pippen’s son so those genes are spectacular.

Men’s Golf 2nd at SEC Championship

Our golf team is 2nd at the SEC Championship at Sea Island, GA. We are at -8 and Auburn leads at -22. Auburn is going off. The top 8 teams after today’s 3rd round of stroke play will square off in the match play starting tomorrow. Hoping we can finish strong and solidify 2nd and gear up for tomorrow. Georgia is 3rd at -5 and the next team is Tennessee at +1, so if we can play a steady round and maybe get it explosive on the remainder of the holes we can have a lot of momentum heading into tomorrow’s first round of match play. We are on holes 6-8 as is Auburn.

Patrick Raby was electric yesterday at Sewell Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa and JJ Bleday just keeps hitting bombs and playing like the best player in the country.

The No.5 Commodores rode those 2 studs along with some other contributors to a 2-0 victory over the Crimson Tide and a sweep of the series. We moved to 31-9 overall and 12-6 in the SEC, a half game back of Georgia (13-5) in the SEC East. Alabama fell to 24-17 and 4-14. Alabama may not have a stellar record, but they’re a growing, developing team and got some solid pitching yesterday, but we did just enough at the plate to support an outstanding performance from Rabes, Hugh Fisher and closer Tyler Brown who were all 3 spectacular.

Rabes went 6, gave up only 2 hits, 0 runs, with 4 walks and 8 K’s. I know he wants to get the walks number down, but he was around the plate and the home plate umpire was calling it tight, so the 4 walks could have been 1 walk. Really liked what I saw out of our senior leader of the staff. Rabes moved to 6-1 on the season with a 2.94 ERA. He was hitting 93 with his fastball, and his changeup and curve were dynamite. Rabes has gained some more velocity on his fastball. Shows how hard he works on his craft. Hugh Fisher came in for the 7th and hit a batter, but struck out 2 with his 95-97 MPH fastball and performed well. Tyler Brown closed it out in another stellar performance going 2 innings giving up just 1 hit, 0 runs with 0 walks and 1 K. Tyler earned his 9th save of the season.

And the awesome Bleday did it again at the plate going deep to left field for his 20th homer of the season, tied with Tulane’s Kody Hoase for the national lead. JJ has 53 Ribeyes as well. Philip Clarke drove in the other run with an RBI single that scored Ethan Paul who had doubled right before Philip. Philip was 2 for 3 with the RBI single and a double and Stephen Scott was 2 for 2.

Austin Martin didn’t get a hit yesterday, but is still hitting .400. JJ is hitting .363, Ethan is hitting .348 with 5 homers and 36 Ribbies along with 14 doubles, Stephen is hitting .313, with 4 homers, 30 RBIs and a team leading 15 doubles. Philip has been on a tear and is now hitting .307 with 6 homers and 47 Ribbies. Pat DeMarco is back in center and it’s awesome to have him back from injury. Pat’s average has climbed to .247 and he’s been hitting well the past 2 days after being out for a month with injury. Harrison Ray is hitting .271 and gives us quality performances at the plate and at second base. We committed 1 error yesterday, Austin committed it on a tough chopper to third, but we’re still fielding at a .982 clip which is tied for tops in the conference with State and 2nd nationally along with MS State.

Our average as a team is .311. Our team ERA is 3.70, pretty solid and getting better after a strong weekend of pitching. If we can do all three of those things like we did this weekend, we’ve got a shot to go some serious distance in late May and June.

We have no mid week game, and will face Auburn this weekend starting Thursday Night at the Hawk. We open at 6:30 PM CT on Thursday on ESPNU. Drake will be on the hill. Friday, our game is at 7 PM CT on the SEC Network with the surging Kumar Rocker taking the mound. Saturday’s finale will be a matinee at 1 Pm with Rabes on the hill. SEC Network+ will broadcast. I’ll have the Auburn hurlers later in the week.

So great stuff from our baseball team. Corbs is a day to day guy and all he cares about right now is having a good day of practice on Tuesday as I expect the team to be off today. Another huge test this weekend against No.25 Auburn. Like where the team is trending though.

David Price

Dave pitched a heckuva game yesterday. He went only 5 throwing 100 pitches, 64 for strikes against 36 balls, but allowed 5 hits with 2 earned, 2 walks and a season high 10 K’s. The Red Sox ended up winning in the 11th over the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3, so David didn’t get the victory. He is now 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP, walks and hits per inning, which is outstanding. Anything under 1.05 is exceptional. David has been a stopper for the Sox, which have been struggling but just swept the AL East leading Rays at Tampa, to move to 9-13, 5 back of the 14-8 Rays. David pitches again at Fenway on Friday versus the very good Charlie Morton and the Rays. Red Sox look like they could be heating up. They need to.

Mike Minor

Mike pitched a classic last Tuesday at Globe Life Park in Arlington for the Texas Rangers. Mike pitched a complete game shutout going the distance, giving up just 3 hits, 0 runs, with 2 walks and 7 K’s. Mike is hitting 95 with his fastball this year and his changeup, cutter and curve are electric. Mike is now 2-1 on the season with a 2.60 ERA and an 0.94 WHIP, which is unreal good. Love where MIke is right now. The Rangers are playing good ball at 12-8, 1 1/2 games behind AL West leading Seattle which is at 16-8. The Astros are at 13-8, so good stuff from Mike and the Rangers.

Sonny is pitching very well for the Reds, he’s had a resurgence in Cincinnati. Walker has been Walker for the Dodgers which is superb as always. They pitched against each other last Wednesday with Walker collecting the victory, 3-2, but both pitched very well. Dans hitting .258, and had his average up over .300, so would like to see that get back up, but he’s playing solid as usual for a very solid Braves team that is 11-10 after taking 2 of 3 from Cleveland over the weekend. Bryan Reynolds was 3 for 4 for the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday playing center field. Bryan could have had the game tying RBI as he doubled with a man on first, but the runner was thrown out at home. Bryan looking like he’s going to stick with the Pirates. Tony Kemp and Curt Casali still playing key roles on the Astros and Reds respectively. Will have more on our MLB guys later in the week.

Stack

I’m starting to really like this out of the box hire by AD Malcolm Turner. Stack was very impressive in his interview with Joe Fisher. I like that he talks about toughness and defense and playing uptempo. He played at North Carolina under Dean Smith, so you know Jerry Stackhouse can coach offense as well. Stack has named 3 assistants and he’s kept 6’9” 4 star power forward Dylan Disu, which is huge. Now if he can just get Scotty Pippen JR to stick with us and keep Matt Ryan and Yanni Wetzell on the team we can be a pretty solid team next year. Like what we have in Stack. He’s going to do an excellent job.

Joejuan Williams

Joejuan is getting ready for the draft on Thursday and Friday. ESPN NFL draft experts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay have Joejuan going in the third round. Kiper has him going to the Carolina Panthers. Would love to see the man even go higher. He had an awesome career at VU and want him to excel on the next level and also hope he can finish out his degree at VU in the 2020 offseason. Justin Skule, Jordan Griffin, Bruno Reagan, Josh Smith and LeDarius Wiley are some others who could be drafted and at least be free agents with shots to make their respective teams. Will keep you posted.

Men’s Golf

Our men’s golf team will be competing in the SEC Championship in Sea Island, GA beginning Wednesday. There will be 3 rounds of stroke play followed by 2 days of match play. The top 8 teams out of 14 will qualify for the match play out of the stroke play. Scott Limbaugh’s team is ranked No.4 by Golfstat and looks to add another SEC title to their resume. We won it 2 years ago. Then we’ll prepare for the NCAA’s. Will Gordon, Patrick Martin, John Augenstein and the guys are a formidable unit, so I expect another stellar performance out of our team this week and beyond that. I’ll keep you updated on our men.

Women’s tennis

Geoff McDonald’s team fell to South Carolina on Saturday in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. We’re ranked in the top 10 in the country and start NCAA Regional play Friday, May 3rd. We’ll more than likely host the first 2 rounds. We’ve got a solid team. Would really like to see Fernanda Contreras and the team continue the stellar tradition of our program under the guidance of the great McDonald.

I’ll have more stuff coming up later this week and next including a look at our 2020 football commits, there are 3 of them, high 3 star quarterback Ken Seals, solid 3 star receiver Logan Kyle and solid 3 star O lineman Bradley Ashmore Watched tape on all 3 and really liked what I saw. Much more to come on football. I need to go over the 2019 class which is a solid group. And general thoughts on the team. Thanks.

The 83rd Masters

Key holes

The Backside at Augusta National will be sizzling on Sunday afternoon on CBS

No.10: Par 4, 495 yards

A long hole that can play shorter if the drive catches the slope in the fairway. The second shot is critical here as the player hits to a green that is sloping right to left. Short right is in the sand trap and is a difficult up and down for par. T

No.11: Par 4 505 yards

The beginning of Amen Corner (holes 11-13), this hole is a difficult, long par 4, that puts a premium on your approach shot. If the competitor misses to the left of the green, he is in the water. A lot of players will bail out to the right and try to get up and down for par. Par is a good score here.

No.12: Par 3, 155 yards

This hole always tests a player’s focus and resolve as there is almost always a prevailing wind that is either in the players face or at his back. Club selection and mental calmness under the storm are at a premium here. Fred Couples caught a huge break in 1992 on this hole when his ball held up on the bank and didn’t go into Rae’s Creek off his tee shot. That would have been devastating for Freddie. He got up and down and went on to win his only major title, though he also won 14 other times, including the 1996 Players Championship, the players’ fifth major. Still, this was Fred’s crowning achievement in golf.

No.13: Par 5, 510

An accurate tee shot to the center of the fairway sets up a player to go for it over a tributary of Rae’s Creek that fronts the green. The second shot is another under the gun, clutchness challenge. There are four bunkers behind the putting surface. Short can be devastating on Sunday, as you’re going swimming. Long can make for a difficult up and down for birdie. Birdie can be pretty critical here on Sunday for the players chasing, and for the player who is leading. One of the key moments in Masters  history was Phil Mickelson’s six iron out of the pine straw and through the trees to four feet in 2010. He missed his eagle putt, but he birdied, which helped Phil clinch his third Green Jacket.

No.14:  Par 4, 440 yards

This is the only hole on the course without bunkers, but players must avoid trees on the left and right off the tee. The green is severely contoured and feeds the ball to the right. Phil holed out for eagle here on Saturday in 2010 during an eagle-eagle-birdie stretch that helped him get into the final group on Sunday in his victory that year. Bernhard Langer and chairman Billy Payne had an argument over 14 at a champions dinner several years ago. Langer got up and said there should be some changes to the 14th hole. Payne immediately interrupted and said, “This is not a place for this discussion. This dinner is over with.” You don’t mess with Augusta National. 

No.15: Par 5, 530 yards

A cluster of pines on the right side of the fairway is coming into play so accuracy, hitting it down the pipe, is critical off the tee. The green can be reached in two with a good tee shot, but there is a pond in the front guarding the green and a bunker on the right side of the green. Even for those players laying up, the third shot requires a precision wedge. Tiger Woods was one shot back of the lead in 2013 when his wedge hit the flagstick and caromed into the water. He went back and dropped but there was a controversy on where he dropped the ball. He made bogey, but his incorrect drop was not discovered until after the round. He was allowed to stay in the tournament because of a committee error. Woods finished tied for fourth that year.

No.16: Par 3, 170 yards

The hole plays entirely over water and eventually bends to the left. Two bunkers guard the right side of the green and the green slopes significantly from right to left. The pin on Sunday is typically back left and on the lower shelf, so pars from the top shelf of the green are rare. Tiger Woods’ amazing chip in 2005 in which his ball took a U turn and rolled toward the hole taking two seconds before dropping in the cup giving him a two shot lead over Chris DiMarco and the eventual victory is one of the more memorable shots in Masters history, but there have been so many on this hole.

No.17: Par 4, 440 yards

The tee shot is easier because the Eisenhower tree was lost to an ice storm in 2014. The green is protected by two bunkers in front. Jack sank his final birdie from 12 feet in 1986 to secure his 18th and final major at age 46. “Yes Sir!”

N0.18: Par 4 465 yards

One of the most demanding finishing holes in golf, this uphill dogleg right is protected off the tee by two deep bunkers down the fairway to the left about 280-285 yards out. The drive is through a chute between two sets of trees on the player’s right and left sides. A middle iron is required on a highly tension filled approach shot. There is a bunker in front and on the right side of the green. Adam Scott birdied here in 2013 from 25 feet and Angel Cabrera followed him up with a birdie from four feet to set up a playoff which Scott won on No.10, the first playoff hole. It was a clutch city performance by both players. Should be an electric finish.

Observations

The 83rd Masters Tournament has an interesting plot this year. There are no clear cut favorites. There are a lot of very good players in the field with this crop of talent in the game today, but I’m not seeing closers amongst this group. I’m not seeing Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Watson, Trevino, Ballesteros and Faldo amongst these guys.

Dustin Johnson has terrific physical talent, but doesn’t seem to have it upstairs when it counts. Any time he’s the favorite, and even when he’s got the lead in a major after the second round like last year in the U.S. Open and looked unstoppable, he fails to close the deal

Rory is that kind of player as well. He seems to not get it done when you think he is going to.

Justin Thomas is a great player, but hasn’t proven that he can win more than 1 major.

Jordan Spieth is a little out of sorts right now, so you don’t know what you’re going to get from him either.

Jason Day, I don’t see him winning.

Brooks Koepka has been great at the U.S. Open the last 2 years and also won the PGA last year, but he hasn’t really ever been a factor at Augusta.

Rickie Fowler, Don’t see him as a closer in majors.

Justin Rose, possibly, but not a super track record at Augusta either.

Tiger Woods, possibly, he’s a 4 time winner in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005, so he’s got a shot and he was definitely a closer for a long time. But I’m not exactly bullish on him.

Patrick Reed , the defending champion, pretty critical of his teammates at the Ryder Cup, which I’m not sure wasn’t warranted, but he’s not playing that well either.

Phil, Not out of the question.

So, I’m going to take the 36 year old from Turin Italy. He won the Arnie and his performance at the Open Championship last year was beyond spectacular. Give me:

Francesco Molinari

Sleepers

Tony Finau

Tommy Fleetwood

TV coverage

Thursday-Friday, 2-6:30 PM CT, ESPN

Saturday, 2-6:30 PM CT, CBS

Sunday, 1-6 PM CT, CBS

Weather

Thursday-great, high 83, winds 10-16 MPH, so wind a factor

Friday-pretty good, 84, chance of a shower, winds 9-13

Saturday, Mostly cloudy, 84, winds 6-10

Sunday, Chance for Strong T storms, hopefully not on Sunday at Augusta, Winds 13-18.

NBA Champion

Playoffs start Saturday on ESPN, TNT and ABC

The Warriors are the favorites once again, but I’m seeing a soap opera out there. Kevin Durant is a bitter, disgruntled player right now, and with Draymond Green, who knows what’ll happen with him and how many technicals he’ll accumulate and maybe cost his team. I see them getting through the west and defeating James Harden, who hasn’t ever proven it in the playoffs, and the Rockets, but I like Milwaukee and the “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo, a superb basketball player, who I like as MVP over Harden, to win out in the east over the Toronto Raptors and Kawai Leonard, and with the home court advantage in the championship series, I like Giannis and the Bucks to upset the Warriors. Like the Milwaukee Bucks to hoist the Lawrence O’Brien Trophy in June, the first time Milwaukee has done that since 1971 (48 years) when Kareem Abdul Jabbar was there and was unstoppable and was named Lou Alcinder at the time. Giannis is a force.

Bucks over Warriors in 7

What was expected to be a defensive slugfest turned into an outstanding offensive game with some stellar defensive play mixed in.

De’Andre Hunter poured in 27 points including a game tying trifecta with 12 seconds left in regulation on a tremendous dish by Ty Jerome and the Cavaliers sank 12 of 12 free throws in overtime to capture their first national championship in school history, 85-77, over a hard fighting Texas Tech team.

Kyle Guy, the hero of the semifinal victory over Auburn and the Final Four’s Most Valuable Player, added 24. Hunter was 4 for 5 from 3 while Guy was 4 for 9. Hunter added 9 boards and Ty Jerome played a tremendous floor game scoring 16 points and dishing out 8 assists.

Virginia just kept making clutch shot after clutch shot to win the national title. Mamadi Diakite kept the Cavaliers hopes alive in the Elite Eight by sinking a 12 foot jumper as time expired in regulation to send their game with Purdue into overtime where the Cavaliers won 80-75. Then Guy had his heroics on Saturday versus Auburn, and Hunter came through in a hugely clutch way last night.

After getting shocked by Maryland-Baltimore County in the first round last year, the first time in the history of the tournament a No.1 seed has lost to a 16 seed, the Cavaliers were not going to be denied this year.

Well done, UVA.

Stanley Cup Predictions

The electric Stanley Cup playoffs commence tomorrow night and the Tampa Bay Lightning, which won 62 games this season, tying the NHL record set by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings along with 128 points, fourth most in NHL history, 4 short of the record held by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadians, will try to buck an interesting playoff statistic. Of the 14 teams that have won the President’s Trophy for the best regular season in the NHL since the salary cap era has been in existence (Tampa Bay was 62-16-4), only 2 of those teams have won the Stanley Cup, the 2007-08 Red Wings and the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks. So history seems to be against the Lightning winning it all.

There is great talent throughout the playoffs. Alexander Ovechkin of the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals led the league once again in goals with 51. “The Great 8” has led the NHL in goals 8 times, which is the most in NHL history. The 33 year old from Moscow, Russia is hungry again as is his team, a charismatic, passionate, exciting group to watch. So much heart on that team.

Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov led the league in points with 128. He scored 41 goals, good for 6th in the league and dished out 87 assists, best in the league by 12 over second place Connor McDavid of Edmonton, who had 75.

Tampa Bay also led the league in goals per game at 3.89. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevsky tied for 6th in save percentage at .925. Ben Bishop of Dallas led the league at .934.

So can the Lightning buck this unusual trend with regular season champions not succeeding in the playoffs? Here are my predictions.

Eastern Conference Final

Tampa Bay over Washington in 7

The defending champs play with a ton of pride and heart, but just come up short to the powerhouse Lighting. It’ll be a war.

Western Conference Final

Calgary over Nashville in 7

The Flames had the best record in the west at 50-25-7 and finished with the most points in the west with 107. Like them to outlast the Preds in a hard fought series as well.

Stanley Cup Final

Maybe that stat has the odds stacked against Tampa winning it all, but I trust the 25 year old from Maykop, Russia, Kucherov, the 24 year old Russian, Vasilevsky and the great Canadian 29 year old Steven Stamkos along with a loaded roster to bring Tampa home its first Stanley Cup.

Tampa Bay over Calgary in 5

TV

NBC Sports Network, CNBC, USA and NBC will televise the playoffs. They start tomorrow night. NBC will broadcast the Stanley Cup Final in June with the great “Doc” Emrick on the call.

The Virginia Cavaliers slipped by Auburn Saturday, 63-62, in heartbreaking fashion for the Tigers. After Auburn had taken a 4 point lead, 61-57, on 2 clutch free throws by Anfernee Mclemore with 17 seconds left after coming back from 57-47 deficit with 5;24 remaining, Kyle Guy sank what looked like an impossible 3 pointer with 9 seconds left. Jared Harper was fouled with 7 seconds left and sank 1 0f 2 free throws.

Auburn had fouls to give and fouled Virginia twice. On the second one, the replay showed that Ty Jerome had actually double dribbled, but the referees didn’t see it. On the inbounds with 1.5 seconds left, Guy got a three off just as the buzzer was close to sounding. Samir Doughty was defending and fouled Guy on the shot. It was very close, but was a foul. According to the rule, Doughty impeded Guy from completing the shot as he came down on him as Guy was finishing his shot. It was a tough call to make at the end of the game, but it was a legitimate foul. Down 62-60, Guy, an 81% free throw shooter, calmly and courageously sank all 3 free throws.

It was tough for Auburn fans to take. It was heartbreaking. But the call was accurate even though it looked like Auburn had won the game when Guy’s shot missed its mark.

Texas Tech soundly defeated Michigan State, 61-51, with their suffocating defense.

This should be quite a defensive battle tonight. Here are the details.

No.1 South Seed Virginia (34-3) vs. No.3 West Seed Texas Tech (31-6)

U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, (66,655)

8:20 PM CT

CBS

Jim, Grant, Bill, Trace

Studio: Ernie, Clark, Kenny, Chucksedo

UVA by 1

UVA has the top scoring defense in the country only allowing 55 points per game while the Red Raiders have the best defensive efficiency team in the country. UVA features superb shooters in Guy, Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter. I like Guy, Jerome and Hunter to be the difference here in an intensely fought game with defense and 3 point shooting at a premium. Jarrett Culver, Matt Mooney and the underrated explosive Red Raiders’ offense and superior defense will give Virginia everything they want, but I like Guy and company to sink one more bucket and earn UVA their first national championship in program history.

Virginia 62, Texas Tech 60

Walker Grisanti cranked his first home run of the season last night in Athens. It couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.

Walker, batting for Julian Infante with one out in the top of the 9th with the Dores down 2-1, cranked a pitch over the right field wall to tie the game at 2 in dramatic fashion. Then in the top of the 11th, shortstop Ethan Paul went yard to right to put us up 3-2 and then Tyler Brown shut down the Dawgs in the bottom of the 11th to lead our No.5 Commodore baseball team to a dramatic 3-2 victory over the No.4 Georgia Bulldogs in Athens.

Drake Fellows got the start and pitched fantastically well going going 7, giving up 5 hits, 2 earned with a walk and 6 K’s. Superb performance by our stud junior. Lefty Zach King came on in the 8th and pitched 2 scoreless innings giving up just one hit, 0 runs with a walk and 2 K’’s. Then Tyler Brown came on in the 10th and pitched 2 scoreless running into a little trouble in the 11th with a runner on 2nd and 1 out getting a strikeout and a fly ball to JJ Bleday in right to close out the game.

It was one terrific baseball game and a huge win for us. We moved to 24-6 overall and 7-3 in the SEC. Georgia dropped to 25-6, 7-3. We are now tied with Georgia for the Eastern Division lead in the SEF. LSU leads the west at 7-3.

Righty Patrick Raby (5-0, 1.22 ERA) goes for us today against Georgia’s LHP C.J. Smith (2-1, 2.49).

First pitch is at 1 PM and will be broadcast by SEC Network+. Another huge contest for us. Hopefully, Rabes, the defense and bats get us over the hump again.

Will give a report tomorrow. Monday, Stack hire, baseball, football and MLB report.

Sonny pitched a brilliant game last night for the Reds going 6.2 innings, giving up 3 hits with 0 walks and 7 K’s. Sonny looked like Sonny. Unfortunately, the Reds lost 2-0 to the Pirates.

Mike Minor pitched a gem Wednesday Night at Arlington going 7 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs with 2 walks and 7 K’s in a 4-0 Texas Rangers victory over the Houston Astros.

‘David (vs Dbacks) , Walker (vs Rockies) and Kyle Wright (Braves vs Marlins) in action tonight. Dansby and the Braves have been playing well winning 4 in a row to move to 4-3. Dans hitting .316. Tony getting action for the Astros. Will have more on him and Curt Casali as well on Monday.

Minneapolis is this year’s host for the 2019 Final Four with an interesting quartet competing for the ultimate prize in college basketball. This group of teams is an inspiring lot. No traditional blue bloods, though Michigan State boasts 10 Final Fours and national championships in 1979 with Magic Johnson and with Coach Tom Izzo in 2000 to its resume. UVA has been to 3 Final Fours now, but it’s been a while. The last 2 were in 1981 and 1984. The Cavaliers have not won a national championship. Auburn and Texas Tech have never been to the Final Four, but they are talented, experienced teams.

All 4 are blue collar outfits. Michigan State can defeat you with stellar defense and their amazing point guard, Cassius Winston, and some nice complimentary players. Texas Tech is another outstanding defensive team that can sink 3 pointers and wear you down. Virginia is another standout defensive group that plays pack line defense taking away most of the scoring in the paint with their aggressive close downs in the middle of the lane and with their length down low. Auburn is an electric offensive team led by their tremendous guards, Jared Harper and Bryce Brown. Harper scored 26 and Brown poured in 24 in a 77-71 Elite Eight overtime victory over Kentucky. Losing Chuma Okeke in the Sweet 16 against UNC was painful, but this Tiger team is a resilient group that can play pressure packed defense that causes multiple turnovers they can turn into points. They’re fast, athletic and can really knock down threes.

Here are predictions for this unique Final Four on Saturday.

Record since Sweet 16: 8-4

No.5 Midwest seed Auburn (30-9) vs. No.1 South seed

Virginia (33-3)

U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN. (66,655)

5:09 PM CT

CBS

Jim “Hello Friends” Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant, Trace

UVA by 5 1/2

The Auburn Tigers have been the hottest team in college basketball for the past month. In order to come out victorious against a tough UVA defense and some pretty clutch 3 point shooters in Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome and DeAndre Hunter, the Tigers will have to make double digit 3’s. I see them putting up 30 or more. If they can sink 12 to 15, I very much like their chances. I like the Tigers to do that, get past UVA barely and move on to Monday Night.

Auburn 77, Virginia 74

No. 3 West seed Texas Tech (30-6) vs. No.2 East Seed Michigan State

(32-6)

7:49 PM CT

CBS

Jim, Bill, Grant, Trace

MIch State by 2 1/2

Like Auburn and UVA, these 2 teams are highly resilient. Michigan State battled through injuries to key players this season with their 2 constants being Tom Izzo on the bench and Cassius Winston on the floor. Chris Beard has done a phenomenal job in Lubbock and his team is aggressive and confident. These are 2 shutdown defensive teams. This is a tough one as the line shows. I like the Spartans to come out on top, but in a supreme battle like Auburn-Virginia. Cassius Winston and his lunch pale teammates get the job done slightly over a tough, hard nosed Red Raider team.

Michigan State 58, Texas Tech 56