June 5, 2011
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Regional Scores
Hill fans 13 as Vanderbilt wins
regional
By Jimmy Jones
Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com
(photos by Jimmy Jones)
NASHVILLE,
Tenn. - Taylor Hill (right) struck out a career-best 13 in eight
innings, allowing only one run, and NCAA Regional Tournament MVP
Jason Esposito had three hits with a double, home run and two
RBI in Vanderbilt's 6-1 victory over Belmont in the championship
game of the Nashville Regional Sunday night at Hawkins Field.
Hill (5-1) was dominant from the beginning, striking out six of
the first 13 batters of the contest and giving up just five hits
in matching his longest outing of the season. The only blip was
the Bruins Tim Egerton's solo homer leading off the second
inning.
Vanderbilt scored a run in the second after back-to-back singles
from Conrad Gregor and Connor Harrell and walks to Riley
Reynolds and Tony Kemp who received credit for a RBI.
Egerton saw to it that the lead was short-lived as he lined a
leadoff homer just over the wall in left field.
The Commodores (50-10). added two more runs in the third, with a
walk to senior catcher Curt Casali, and a single to center by
Mike Yastrzemski. Esposito lined a RBI double into right center
and Gregor's line drive to left center plated another run for a
3-1 VU advantage.
In the sixth, Reynolds singled with one out and Kemp reached on
an error before Anthony Gomez doubled just inside the third base
bag. Casali's line drive into left center field scored Kemp for
a 5-1 lead.
Esposito
(right) finished the scoring with a laser into the left field
bleachers to lead off the seventh inning.
"I think the first thing is to congratulate
Belmont on a great year," VU coach Tim Corbin said. "I'm really
happy for Dave Jarvis. The fact that they could take that
program and get to a regional this year. They have a lot of good
kids. I have good relationships with several of the kids on the
team. I looked forward to watching how they progressed over the
season.
"In terms of tonight, I'm proud of the group. I'm proud of what
they did. Tonight was a pitching night. When you can take care
of 14 of the outs on the mound, that says a lot of Taylor Hill
and Mark (Lamm) finishing up. Taylor was really good tonight. He
was very strong for us. He gave us exactly that type of effort
last week and it was good to be able to see him get that effort
again and be on the topside of things after tonight."
BU starter James Buckelew (2-7) took the loss, allowing three
runs on four hits in three innings of work. He walked four and
did not strike out a batter
Gomez, Reynolds and Gregor all collected two hits
for Vanderbilt. Judah Akers recorded two of Belmont's six hits
in the contest.
"The story of the game tonight was Taylor Hill
and his performance," BU coach Dave Jarvis said. "I thought it
was a very outstanding performance. I know Taylor and I know his
family. What an outstanding young man. I'm happy to see him
flourish like he did tonight.
"It's bittersweet for our kids to see the season come to an end
after all we accomplished. I couldn't be prouder of this team
and this group of guys, the character they showed and the way
they played. They respected the game throughout the course of
this year. And I gave so much credit for that to our senior
class."
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