Hosting the Huskies
April 11, 2003 11:28 AM | General
April 11, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia will try to move up the Big East standings this weekend with an important three-game series with Connecticut beginning Friday night.
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| Sophomore Lee Fritz leads the Mountaineers with a .445 batting average. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
The Huskies are three spots ahead of West Virginia in the conference standings in third place with a 6-3 record. However, five of UConn’s six wins in conference play have come against Georgetown and Villanova which have combined for a 3-19 record in Big East play this season.
Connecticut, 16-11 overall, is coming off a 10-4 victory over Rhode Island Thursday after losing three of its last four to St. John’s and Seton Hall.
Two-way standout Peter Soteropoulos leads Connecticut in batting with a .377 average, 2 home runs and 29 RBI. As a lefthanded pitcher, Soteropoulos is 2-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 26.2 innings.
Freshman outfielder Bryan Maler is also hitting .377 with a home run and 9 RBI. Senior infielder Brett Burnham shows a .344 batting mark with a team-best five home runs and 27 RBI, while sophomore outfielder Russ D’Argento is hitting .343 with 3 home runs and 15 RBI.
Overall, the Huskies are hitting .312 with a .458 slugging percentage.
The UConn pitching staff hasn’t quite measured up to its hitting with a hefty 6.33 team ERA.
Connecticut’s top three starters are sophomore righthander Nick Tucci (2-3, 5.59 ERA), Soteropoulos and senior righthander Erik Drown (2-4, 6.81 ERA).
West Virginia, meanwhile, is coming off a series split with Towson and comes into this weekend’s series with a 19-11 overall record, 3-2 in conference play.
Sophomore outfielder Lee Fritz has maintained his torrid hitting and leads the team with a .445 batting average that is tops in the conference.
Jake Serfass (.375), Jarod Rine (.366) and Tim McCabe (.355) are also batting better than .350.
McCabe leads the team with 9 home runs and 16 extra base hits. The senior from Wexford, Pa., also has knocked in 26 runs.
Senior Eric Grimm leads the Mountaineers with 30 RBI while junior designated hitter Derek Cisar has driven in 27 runs.
Like Connecticut, West Virginia possesses one of the top offenses in the conference with a .325 team batting mark. And just like Connecticut, West Virginia’s pitching staff owns a high team ERA of 5.16.
The Mountaineers are expected to start senior righthander Jason DiAngelo (4-2, 6.28 ERA) in game one Friday night. Sophomore lefthander Zac Cline (4-3, 4.53 ERA) should get the nod in game two and sophomore righthander Shawn Miller (2-0, 2.96 ERA) is the probable starter for game three.
Friday’s game will get underway at 7 p.m., Saturday’s contest will start at 3 p.m. and Sunday’s game begin at 1 p.m. U-92 will provide Webcast coverage of all three games and those can be accessed through the Live Events Schedule on the main page.
Notebook: Lee Fritz is on pace to become the school’s single season batting average leader with his current .445 average. Bob Bernardo hit .430 in 1984. There have been only eight Mountaineer players to finish the season with an average above .400 – the last were current assistant coach Joe McNamee (.429) and his teammate Jamie Hammond (.417) in 1998 … WVU lefthanded pitcher Zac Cline may be effective against Connecticut in his start on Saturday. The Huskies are just 2-5 this year against lefthanders … Twenty two of Connecticut’s 27 games this year have come away from home. The Huskies are a very respectable 11-11 on the road so far this year … The West Virginia-Connecticut series has been one of the most competitive in the Big East since the Mountaineers joined the conference in 1996. The two teams have played to a 10-10 series draw … West Virginia is 6-2 in one-run games and 12-4 at home so far this year … While league leader Notre Dame (7-1) has an idle weekend in conference play, the other key Big East series takes place in Blacksburg when second-place Virginia Tech (6-1) plays host to No. 5 Boston College. The Eagles and West Virginia are tied for fifth with identical 3-2 records.
