This weekend will be yet another important series for Vanderbilt baseball. We travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on a struggling University of Alabama. With a 3-6 record in the SEC, Alabama is battling injuries and lacking offensive production. However, the Crimson Tide play extremely well at home, and are pitching outstanding. Vanderbilt has not won an away series since LSU my freshman year (over 2 years). This weekend is a great opportunity to break the streak.

Friday, April 9

This will be the last time I ever eat Long John Silver’s the day before a game. Fried food tends to upset the body, and it made me feel rather ill. All day before the game I was feeling lethargic, and the hot weather was not helping.

We arrived at the field way too early, and I was stuck waiting around for almost two hours before warming-up and stretching. Although I had to watch BP, shine my shoes and establish a game plan, it was a long time (especially in the heat).

Unlike previous weeks, Coach Johnson decided to let John Douillard and I call the pitches during the game. He felt this was necessary to conform to my success working at a quick pace. Since I have complete trust in Douillard to call pitches, I was confident we would make the right pitches. Our basic approach was: my best versus their best. Similar to Georgia, we were gonna attack Alabama with fastballs, mixing up the location.

Everything worked perfectly for seven innings. After Cesar Nicolas collected three hits, we were leading 6-0 going into the eighth. The leadoff hitter, Allen Rice, took an inside FB and slapped it down the third-base line for a double. This at-bat foreshadowed several other at-bats in the inning: good pitch, good piece of hitting. No matter where I put the ball, they found a place for it. Four hits, one BB and one HBP led to four runs. At 6-4, the fans became excited, and things stared getting tense. Thankfully, Tyler Rhoden bailed me out by getting a K to end the threat.

In the bottom of the ninth there was more drama. With runners on second and third with no outs, our closer Ryan Rote managed to stop the bleeding and finish the game. We won 6-5.

Not exactly the way one wants to finish a game, but we’ll take any win we can get - especially on the road. Now we can carry our momentum into the rest of the series.

After the game, I went out to eat with my girlfriend Ashley, my step dad Rob, teammate Matt Buschmann and his girlfriend Molly. Tonight, I stayed away from the fried foods and settled on grilled chicken and shrimp. Tomorrow would be an exhausting day involving a 40-minute run, weight lifting, medicine ball workout and light throwing. Winning tonight’s game will definitely make it easier.

Saturday, April 10

Today’s game was pitcher-dominated. Both starters - Jensen Lewis and Brandon Belcher - threw six excellent innings, leaving the score 2-1 going into the seventh. Then came rain. A 63-minute rain delay. Thankfully Alabama’s field drains exceptionally well.

Unfortunately, the final three innings didn’t offer too much excitement. We hit a few balls hard, but reliever Seth Johnson shut our offense down, and we lost 3-1.

After a trip to the Olive Garden with the same cast from last night’s dinner, I made an executive decision in the hotel room. We were going to watch The Bad News Bears. My roommate, Stephen Shao, was a bit angry after allowing a HR in the eighth inning, so we needed to clear his mind. I hope the movie worked. Nothing is a better remedy for a bad mood than watching foul-mouthed 10-year-olds play baseball.

Tomorrow will be one of the most important games of the year. Lefty Ryan Mullins will take the mound and give us a chance to win a road series. Hopefully, we will manage some clutch hitting and give Mullins some cushioning to do his thing. Of course, this will not come easy. Alabama probably needs Sunday’s game more than us. They need to win a series, especially at home.

Sunday, April 11

Since the breakfast at the Fairfield Inn is more continental style, Coach Corbin took us to IHOP (International House of Pancakes) at 9 a.m. I sat with my roommate Shao, two fellow pitchers - Nick Pilkington and Blake Owen - and our Administrative Assistant John Williamson (a.k.a. Mook). When the waitress came to ask us about the check, we told her to put it all on one, anticipating that we would break it up at the cashier.

Apparently IHOP didn’t advocate this practice and was not thrilled when we asked to pay for individual meals from the check. Needless to say, we weren’t too happy about the experience.

Since it rained all night, we did not go over to the field until noon (2 p.m. game). Batting practice would be in the cages, so I went on my Sunday run and did some theraband before the game.

Go figure, another pitcher’s duel. Ryan Mullins gave us seven wonderful innings, and Alabama starter Taylor Tankersley also pitched good enough to win. Going into the ninth inning, we were up 3-0, with Ryan Rote coming in for the save. Once again, Alabama started rallying. A lead-off double sparked the offense, and before we knew it, Alabama had the bases loaded with two outs down 3-2. Pinch-hitter Matt Downs came to the plate and blasted a 2-2 FB into right field.

As they say, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Our RF Worth Scott made an outstanding catch running into the wall. We won 3-2.

The trip home was a bit different than normal. Feeling great after a series win against Alabama, we even got to watch a movie. But instead of enjoying the flick, I decided to catch up on Gree Civ reading. I read about 100 pages of Thucydides commenting on the Peloponnesian War. Besides, I wanted to watch Bachelor Party, which apparently got shot down. Oh well.

Now we have to look to our next competition: Tuesday against Evansville at home. Looking for win No. 25. Our record now stands at 24-8 (6-6 SEC).

Jeremy Sowers

(photo courtesy of Vanderbilt Media Relations Office)