Road Kill!
March 01, 2003 04:18 PM | General
March 1, 2003
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| Halstead |
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It’s still very early in his career, but WVU freshman right-hander Brandon Halstead showed Saturday afternoon that he can beat a top-ranked baseball program on the road.
The Charleston native had pinpoint control in tossing a complete-game four-hitter to lead West Virginia to a 3-1 win over No. 24 Tennessee on a sunny afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Halstead (2-0) allowed one run in the first inning without a Tennessee hit, but shut down Volunteer hitters after that scattering four hits while striking out three and walking three. He held a Tennessee offense in check that prior to today was scoring 9.4 runs per game.
Tennessee (8-1) left a total of seven runners on base, thanks to Halstead's seven inning-ending fly ball outs including a fly ball to leftfield off the bat of Nick Crowe to end the contest in the ninth.
Halstead retired the last seven batters he faced.
"This was a really great win for us because we played so focused," said Halstead. "I felt real good in warm-ups and throughout the game. I just felt like I was getting stronger as the game went on."
Down 1-0 in the fourth inning, junior Kurtis Clinton put the Mountaineers on the board with a two-out, solo home run to left field -- his second of the year. Senior Tim McCabe followed with a base-hit up the middle and later scored on a double by Grant Psomas to give WVU a 2-1 lead.
Lee Fritz drove in West Virginia's third run with a sacrifice fly that plated Jarod Rine, who reached on an error in the fifth inning.
That turned out to be all Halstead needed.
"We really played a terrific game but the story of the day was Brandon Halstead," said West Virginia coach Greg Van Zant. "That might have been the best pitched games I've ever seen from a freshman in my career. Halstead controlled the game and we played terrific defense behind him."
WVU out-hit Tennessee eight to four and committed no errors; the Volunteers' had three.
Tennessee starter Ben Riley (1-1) lasted five innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out two and walking one.
For the Mountaineers, the win is the first victory over a ranked opponent since last year's 4-2 win over Notre Dame in Morgantown and their first road win over a ranked team since defeating the Irish in South Bend, 11-9, in 1998.
"This was such an important win after coming off a tough loss at UNC-Wilmington," said Van Zant. "Tennessee is one of the top teams in the country and anytime you can beat them it's a great thing. Hopefully we can do the same tomorrow."
WVU improves to 3-3 and snaps Tennessee's eight-game winning streak to open the season.
The Mountaineers face Tennessee again on Sunday, March 2, at 2 p.m., at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. WVU southpaw Zac Cline (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will face Tennessee lefty Derek Tharpe (1-0, 3.68 ERA).
