2012 SEC BaSEB all M Edia Guid E - Southeastern Conference
2012 SEC BaSEB all M Edia Guid E - Southeastern Conference
2012 SEC BaSEB all M Edia Guid E - Southeastern Conference
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YEAR IN REVIEW<br />
ALABAMA • ARKANSAS • AUBURN • FLORIDA • GEORGIA • KENTUCKY • LSU<br />
Team-By-Team Notes<br />
LSU Tigers<br />
The LSU baseb<strong>all</strong> team (36-20) learned Monday that it’s season would<br />
not continue into June, as the six-time national champions were left without<br />
an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Tournament. LSU baseb<strong>all</strong> associate<br />
head coach David Grewe has resigned to pursue other career<br />
opportunities, head coach Paul Mainieri announced Tuesday. Grewe, 35,<br />
has served as the Tigers’ recruiting coordinator and pitching coach for<br />
the past three seasons. LSU junior outfielder Mikie Mahtook is one of 30<br />
semifinalists for the 2011 Golden Spikes Award, USA Baseb<strong>all</strong> announced Tuesday. This<br />
marks the 34th consecutive year that the award has been presented to the nation’s top<br />
amateur baseb<strong>all</strong> player. GoldenSpikesAward.com -- powered by MLB.com -- will be the<br />
online home for the award. The Web site features content devoted exclusively to the GSA,<br />
including news, voting history, past winner photo g<strong>all</strong>eries, and photographs and video<br />
highlights for the 2011 semifinalists. Fans can follow online at GoldenSpikesAward.com<br />
as the list of 30 players is narrowed to three finalists on Monday, June 6. For the first time<br />
ever, the GSA will be awarded live on MLB Network. The presentation will begin at 6:00<br />
p.m. ET on MLB Tonight, Friday, July 15. The three finalists for the award will be at MLB<br />
Network’s studios for the presentation, which will feature interviews, video highlights and<br />
the announcement of the winner. Online footage of the event also will be available via<br />
www.GoldenSpikesAward.com and www.MLB.com. Mahtook, a native of Lafayette, La.,<br />
was a 2011 First-Team All-<strong>SEC</strong> selection, and he leads the conference in slugging percentage<br />
(.709), walks (41), triples (5) and steals (29). He is No. 2 in the <strong>SEC</strong> in batting average<br />
(.383), home runs (14), total bases (139), on-base percentage (.496) and runs scored<br />
(61) and No. 3 in the league in RBI (56). Mahtook batted .441 (26-for-59) in the final 15<br />
games of the season with four doubles, two triples, four homers, 18 RBI, 19 runs and eight<br />
steals. His consecutive games reached-base streak is currently at 70 - he reached base<br />
safely in <strong>all</strong> 56 games this season and in the final 14 games of 2010.<br />
OLE MISS Rebels<br />
Sophomore second baseman Alex Yarbrough and senior outfielder Matt<br />
Smith garnered honors from the <strong>SEC</strong> when Yarbrough was named an<br />
All-<strong>SEC</strong> selection and Smith was named to the <strong>Southeastern</strong> <strong>Conference</strong><br />
Community Service Team, the league office announced on Tuesday. Yarbrough,<br />
an All-<strong>SEC</strong> second team selection at second base, started <strong>all</strong> 55<br />
games played in the regular season and paced the Ole Miss offense,<br />
hitting .350 with a team-leading 24 extra-base hits that included 14 doubles, three triples<br />
and seven home runs. The seven home runs was the second most on the team. He also<br />
led the Rebels in multiple-hit games (24) and multiple-RBI games (11). In <strong>Southeastern</strong><br />
<strong>Conference</strong> play, Yarbrough was even better, hitting at a .358 clip with a .600 slugging<br />
percentage as <strong>all</strong> seven of his home runs came against <strong>SEC</strong> competition to lead the team<br />
in both categories. It’s the 11th straight season the Rebels have had a player selected for<br />
All-<strong>SEC</strong> honors. Smith was also honored by the <strong>Southeastern</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> when he was<br />
named as one of the members on the Community Service team for his efforts in the Ole<br />
Miss and Oxford communities. The Milan, Ga., native has been active in the local community<br />
as a participant in several outreach projects. He has been a part of the “Reading<br />
With The Rebels” program which <strong>all</strong>ows local athletes to visit local elementary schools to<br />
read with school children. He has also participated in the <strong>SEC</strong> “Together We Can” Food<br />
Drive and the Rebel Re-Run program to collect athletic shoes for youth in Africa. Smith has<br />
also made visits to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis and participated in the 2010<br />
“Dash for Hash” 5k run to raise funds to help defray the medical costs of teammate Taylor<br />
Hashman who was injured in an accident last summer. The senior also put on a “Pitch, Hit<br />
and Run” baseb<strong>all</strong> clinic for local youth.<br />
MISSISSIPPI STATE Bulldogs<br />
Mississippi State’s dream postseason run came up short Sunday afternoon<br />
as the 16th-ranked Diamond Dawgs dropped an 8-6 heartbreaker<br />
to No. 1 Florida in the championship game of the Gainesville<br />
Super Regional played at UF’s McKethan Stadium. The Bulldogs<br />
pushed the tournament’s No. 2 national seed to the brink before<br />
f<strong>all</strong>ing in dramatic fashion. MSU evened the best-of-three series with<br />
a 4-3 win on a Nick Vickerson two-run walk-off home run Saturday. Vickerson also hit a<br />
three-run blast Sunday. The Maroon and White actu<strong>all</strong>y led 6-4 in the seventh inning but<br />
could not close the deal. Florida (50-17) hit five total home runs Sunday to advance to<br />
the College World Series for the seventh time in program history. The Gators will be making<br />
back-to-back appearances. Meanwhile, MSU (38-25) was trying for Omaha for the<br />
first time since 2007. The Bulldogs capped an improbable run by sweeping the Atlanta<br />
Regional and then f<strong>all</strong>ing short in the school’s first-ever third game of a Super Regional<br />
series. While the postseason did not end on a positive note, Cohen and his staff can<br />
take great pride in its 2011 accomplishments. After three consecutive losing seasons, the<br />
Bulldogs posted 38 over<strong>all</strong> wins, while making the <strong>SEC</strong> Tournament, a regional and a<br />
super regional for the first time since 2007. The Bulldogs were playing for the <strong>Southeastern</strong><br />
<strong>Conference</strong>’s Western Division championship on the regular season’s final day. This<br />
success came a mere three months after being picked by league coaches to finish last in<br />
the league.<br />
SOUTH CAROLINA Gamecocks<br />
South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner has been named National Coach of<br />
The Year by Diamond/American Baseb<strong>all</strong> Coaches Association (ABCA). One<br />
of the most respected coaches in college baseb<strong>all</strong>, Tanner led the Gamecocks<br />
to their second consecutive national championship at the recent College World<br />
Series. Collegiate Baseb<strong>all</strong> also honored Tanner earlier this year as the National<br />
Coach of the Year. This is the third time in Tanner’s career that he has earned<br />
National Coach of the Year honors as he also picked up the accolade in 2000 from Baseb<strong>all</strong><br />
America as well as in 2010 by Baseb<strong>all</strong> America and Collegiate Baseb<strong>all</strong>. Tanner, who just<br />
completed his 15th season at South Carolina and 24th over<strong>all</strong> in NCAA Division I baseb<strong>all</strong>,<br />
has led the Gamecocks to the College World Series five times including in 2002, 2003, 2004<br />
and 2010. Tanner owns a 689-296 record at South Carolina with a .699 winning percentage,<br />
second highest <strong>all</strong>-time among <strong>SEC</strong> coaches. His career record is 1,084-469-3 for a winning<br />
percentage of .698. Under Tanner’s leadership, South Carolina owns the longest current<br />
streak of NCAA Regional appearances among the 12 <strong>SEC</strong> schools with 12 straight trips dating<br />
back to the 2000 season. In that span, Carolina has nine NCAA Super Regional appearances<br />
(2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011). South Carolina has now won<br />
a record 16 consecutive NCAA tournament games (2010-11), breaking the <strong>all</strong>-time record<br />
of 15 shared with Texas (1983-84). In addition, the Gamecocks have now won their last 11<br />
College World Series games dating back to last season, an <strong>all</strong>-time record. South Carolina<br />
broke the mark of 10 consecutive CWS wins they shared with both Southern California (1972-<br />
74) and Louisiana St. (1996-98). South Carolina finished the CWS with a microscopic 0.88<br />
ERA in five games, the fourth lowest team ERA in the event’s history and the lowest since 1972<br />
(Arizona St., 0.68). Only five teams have ever finished the CWS with a team ERA under 1.00.<br />
South Carolina’s team ERA is the lowest by a CWS champion since California in 1957 (0.60).<br />
TENNESSEE Volunteers<br />
The Tennessee baseb<strong>all</strong> team closed out the 2011 campaign on a high note,<br />
claiming its second <strong>SEC</strong> series victory of the year with a walk-off win in the<br />
season finale against Auburn. The Volunteers finished the 2011 campaign<br />
with an over<strong>all</strong> record of 25-29, including a 7-23 mark in <strong>SEC</strong> play. Freshman<br />
Andrew Toles delivered UT’s second walk-off hit of the season with an RBI<br />
single to center in the bottom of the ninth of Saturday’s contest against the Tigers. The Big<br />
Orange had been 0-28 when trailing after seven innings this season before the victory, which<br />
gave the Vols a 5-2 record against teams from the state of Alabama this season. Junior Davis<br />
Morgan led the team’s offensive effort on the weekend, hitting a cool .500 (5-for-10) with<br />
five RBIs against Auburn. Fellow classmate Steven Gruver set the tone on the mound for UT,<br />
firing 7.1 innings of five-hit, two-run b<strong>all</strong> in the series opener on Thursday. He finished with<br />
seven strikeouts as he picked up his fifth win of the year. He completed the 2011 campaign<br />
with a team-high 95.2 innings pitched, a 3.95 ERA and 84 strikeouts. Saturday’s walk-off<br />
win not only closed out the season, but the careers of five Tennessee seniors – Rob Catapano,<br />
Matt Duffy, Tyler Horne, Josh Liles and Khayyan Norfork – as well. Liles, who finishes his<br />
career ninth in school history in games played, hit a home run, his first of the year, in his final<br />
collegiate at-bat. It marked his 199th career hit. Norfork, meanwhile, ended the year as UT’s<br />
leading hitter with a .332 batting average. As a team, Tennessee finished with a success rate<br />
of 75 percent on the basepaths, swiping 90 bases in 120 attempts. That is the squad’s highest<br />
stolen base total since t<strong>all</strong>ying 160 in 2001. The Vols also set a new school record with 24<br />
outfield assists (stat was first kept in 2000), including eight from sophomore Chris Fritts and<br />
seven from junior Charley Thurber. The Big Orange averaged 1,455 fans in 35 home dates<br />
and averaged two hours, 34 minutes per nine-inning contest in 2011.<br />
VANDERBILT Commodores<br />
Vanderbilt finishes the 2011 season with a 54-12 record, as five of the 12<br />
losses came against Florida. The Commodores 54 wins is second nation<strong>all</strong>y<br />
and matches the school record. The team’s 13 losses are the fewest in a season<br />
in school history. Vanderbilt has lost only six games since May 7th with five<br />
of those losses coming to Florida. The Gators handed Vanderbilt its only losses<br />
at the <strong>SEC</strong> Tournament and in the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt f<strong>all</strong>s to 7-2<br />
in NCAA play and 27-20 <strong>all</strong>-time in the NCAA Tournament. Sonny Gray’s 7.0 inning effort<br />
against Florida is his longest outing since going 8.0 innings against Kentucky on May 6. He<br />
has gone seven or more innings in nine of his 19 starts this season. The six runs Grey has <strong>all</strong>owed<br />
is a season-high (previous high was four vs. Georgia on May 19). It is the only time in 19<br />
starts he has <strong>all</strong>owed more than four runs in a start. Grey is 0-2 with a 6.94 ERA in two starts at<br />
the MCWS. Gray now ranks first on Vanderbilt’s single-season list in wins (12, tied), second in<br />
innings pitched (126.0), and third in strikeouts (132). With his first-inning homer Aaron Westlake<br />
has now hit five homers in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, tying Florida’s Preston Tucker<br />
for the lead in that category. Jason Esposito’s eighth-inning single snapped an 0-for-20 dryspell<br />
- including 0-for-15 at the MCWS - dating back to a two-hit game against Oregon State<br />
in the Super Regional opener on June 10. Connor Harrell’s RBI single in the seventh inning<br />
was his sixth RBI of the MCWS, tying Preston Tucker for the lead in Omaha. Harrell hit .417<br />
(5-for-12) with six RBIs in four MCWS contests. Vanderbilt was looking to become the eighth<br />
team to win a MCWS title in its first appearance, and would be the first since Minnesota in<br />
1956. The other teams to win an MCWS title in their first appearance in Omaha are California<br />
(1947), Southern California (1948); Texas (1949); Oklahoma (1951); Holy Cross (1952) and<br />
Michigan (1953). The last first-time qualifier to play for a national title is Georgia Tech in 1994.<br />
90<br />
vanderbilt • tennessee • south carolina • missISSIPPI state • ole miss