2013 SEC Baseball Tournament -- May 21-26 -- Hoover, Alabama

One of Vandy's best players on today's game

He's the grandson of Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer , Carl Yastrzemski (18× All-Star, number retired by Red Sox)

"To be able to match yourself up against
them is a real gut check," said
Commodores' right fielder Mike
Yastrzemski, one of the few players on the
team who was around when Vandy and
LSU last played in 2011.
"No matter if it's a championship game or
it's the first game of the season, that's a
good ball club, and we just want a chance
to see the best teams and test ourselves
even more."

 

Mainieri on today's game:

"If this was football, they'd call it the
game of the century," Mainieri said.
"What an awesome way to cap off the SEC
Tournament."

The teams had the #1 and #4 best regular seasons in SEC history, 26-3 and 23-7

 

Vandy's Zander Wiel (batting .304) on today's game:

"It's SEC baseball. It's the two best teams in
the conference, who happen to be the two
best teams in the country right now," Wiel
said. "It's what the people want and it's
going to be a good matchup."

 

More from Yaz on today's game:

"It'd be really special to be able to come out
here and win this thing, because this means
something," right fielder Mike Yastrzemski
said. "This isn't just a walk-through game.
It's the SEC championship. This is what we
play for. The only thing that really matters
right now is trying to win this game."

 

The Birmingham News, Jon Solomon

Most #SECBaseball tournament
championship game appearances in
Hoover: Vanderbilt & LSU , each with
7.

 

A.J. O'Bier
I'm more excited for LSU / Vanderbilt
baseball tomorrow than most are for
LSU /Bama football. Gunna be a
heavyweight fight.

 

Vandy Coach Tim Corbin:
“Getting the chance to play in the
championship game is a special game."

Mike Yastrzemski:
A "chance ... to play a team that wins 50 games...That’s something that doesn’t happen every year."

Vandy's #1 offensive star, Tony Kemp:
“It’s...two of the best teams in the nation...
Hopefully tomorrow, I can bring energy to
the team and produce some runs. It’s going
to be a lot of LSU fans. We have the crowd
support too, so hopefully it’s going to be
some Black and Gold chants tomorrow.”

 

Raph Rhymes on playing for the SEC Championship
“This is what it’s all about. We get to wake
up in the morning and play for the
championship. That’s why I came back for
my senior year. We’re here to win
championships and now we have the
opportunity to do that.”

 

Mainieri on our pitching depth:
“As soon as we got the last out, I started
looking at it again. I think we’re going to be
okay for tomorrow. We’ve got a handful of
guys that are rested and ready to go. I don’t
doubt that Chris Cotton will be available. The
great thing about him is that not only does
he get the job done, he gets it done fast. I
don’t think we’ll have trouble tomorrow. We
just need to pitch well.”

 

Arkansas stud Tyler Spoon on why it is so difficult to beat LSU:
“They’re a tough team; they’re the number
two team in the country. They are a great
team; we have a lot of respect for them. You
have to come and play your hardest against
them, every at-bat and every pitch. They’re
not going to give you anything, they don’t
make any mistakes. You just have to play as
hard as you can.”