College baseball’s best weekend match-up is also one Cape League fans will want to keep an eye on. No. 2 Vanderbilt is heading west to take on No. 11 Oregon in Eugene. It’s one of the bigger series the Ducks have hosted in the four years since the program was revived, although several ranked teams have come to town, including No. 2 Arizona State in 2010. Those teams have left unhappy, with the Ducks owning a 13-4 home record against ranked teams.
At this point, Oregon has three players on Cape rosters for 2013, while Vanderbilt has seven, which is among the highest of any school.
Schedule
Friday, 6 p.m.
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Sunday, 12 p.m.
Oregon
Steven Packard – OF – Brewster
Scott Heineman – C/INF – Falmouth
Cole Irvin – LHP – Falmouth
Vanderbilt
Tyler Beede – RHP – Cotuit
Carson Fulmer – RHP – Cotuit
Brian Miller – RHP – Cotuit
Rhett Wiseman – OF – Cotuit
Jared Miller – LHP – Orleans
Philip Pfeifer – LHP – Orleans
Big Z
Vandy junior Kevin Ziomek spent part of two seasons with Cotuit and though he made only five appearances last summer, he emerged as one of the top arms in the league. So far this season, he’s been one of the best in the country, a status that was cemented last weekend. Ziomek fired a one-hit, complete game shutout with 15 strikeouts against Illinois-Chicago. For the year, Ziomek has a 0.82 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched. He’ll get the ball in Friday’s opener.
Aces
Vanderbilt’s weekend rotation is shaping up to be one of the nation’s best, and the two pitchers who follow Ziomek are both slated to be on the Cape this summer. Sophomore Tyler Beede, a former first-round pick, has a 1.45 ERA this season and is on the Cotuit roster. Sophomore Philip Pfeifer actually has a better ERA than Ziomek at 0.45, and he’s been the SEC Pitcher of the Week already this year, as well. Pfeifer is on the Orleans roster.
Kettleer vs. Firebird
Pfeifer is scheduled to start Sunday against Oregon freshman Cole Irvin, who is on the Orleans roster for the summer. Irvin was a 29th-round pick out of high school and has jumped right into the weekend rotation for the Ducks. He’s 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA.
Wise
Vandy’s Rhett Wiseman, who’s also slated for Cotuit, is a Massachusetts native and is one of the most highly-touted freshmen in the country. He’s started only two of the team’s 12 games, but he hit a walk-off home run against Illinois-Chicago last weekend.