Johnson was awarded the honor of America's top pitching coach by one major publication a few years back, and his success in developing pitchers is evident again in 2007. I spent a while talking to Nick Christiani yesterday, whose two-seam fastball was electric as the sophomore right-hander picked up his fourth win of the season. Christiani gave all the credit for the pitch to Johnson, saying he didn't even throw that pitch until he arrived at Vandy.

Meanwhile, Johnson's work with starters David Price and Brett Jacobson continues to pay off. Price is having success with a change-up that Johnson worked on in the off-season after hitters sat on his fastball throuhout the second half of the year.

Jacobson, who came to VU as a power pitcher, credits Johnson with teaching him how to relax and rely on his defense and not try to strike everyone out. That work paid off in the first inning, as with two on and none out, Jacobson got a 6-3 double-play groundout to get the first two outs, then struck out cleanup hitter Brett Schaeffer on a nasty slider to end the inning.

Vandy just got a run in its half of the first to stake Jacobson to a 1-0 lead.