Stayin' Alive
May 23, 2003 03:23 PM | General
May 23, 2003
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. – Zac Cline showed Friday that he should be considered among the best pitchers in the Big East Conference, too.
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| Pitcher Zac Cline fanned 13 Virginia Tech batters in a 10-0 West Virginia victory. (Steve Smith photo) |
The sophomore lefthander, picked on the all-Big East second team despite leading the conference in victories, struck out 13 and allowed just one hit in a 10-0 complete-game shutout victory over Virginia Tech in a Big East tournament elimination game.
“(Zac) just goes out every time and is very consistent,” said WVU catcher Travis D’Amico. “I could go wherever I wanted behind the plate – in, out, soft, hard – he just had all of his stuff working today and it showed out there.”
The Mountaineers will now face either Rutgers or Notre Dame Friday night for the chance to reach the Big East championship game.
Cline gave up just a Wayne Toregas single to left to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning. He was able to get the next three Hokie hitters out – two on strike outs to end the threat.
Tech’s only other two base runners came in the sixth and seventh innings on walks.
Cline’s pitching performance was reminiscent of Chris Enoch’s one-hit gem fired against Rutgers on the way to the 1996 Big East tournament title. Enochs, a first-round draft pick by the Oakland A’s a year later in 1997, allowed just an infield single against the Knights in a 5-0 WVU win.
Cline recorded at least one strike out in every inning except for the second and eighth, and extended his season-long mastery over the Hokies.
“He was spotting his fastball on the inside corner very well today,” said D’Amico. “If you can get inside and keep the hitters from leaning outside over the plate you’ve just got them guessing up there and that’s what he did today.”
Earlier this year in Morgantown, Cline gave up just five hits and one earned run in a 3-1 WVU victory back on April 17. The Union City, Pa., native boosts his record to 12-3 on the year.
West Virginia had plenty of offense Friday, too.
After a Jarod Rine ground out to short, Eric Grimm took an Andrew Wells offering and sent it over the right field wall for his 10th home run of the season. It was also Grimm’s 200th career hit as a Mountaineer, making him only the fifth player in school history to reach the 200-hit mark.
“That totally set the whole tone for the game,” said D’Amico. “We’re the visiting team and that gives Zac a little room to work with right off the bat.”
WVU tacked on another run in the second when Grant Psomas led off the inning with a long home run right field. It was Psomas’ ninth home run of the season.
In the fifth, Rine caught up with a Wells fastball and took it over the right field fence for West Virginia’s third run of the game. It was Rine’s ninth home run of the season and gives WVU a school–record 73 for the year.
“The wind was blowing out but they really got a hold of those three home runs,” said D’Amico.
Grimm followed Rine’s shot with a double to left center and eventually scored on Tim McCabe’s single to center. McCabe’s hit knocked out Wells, who gave up four runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings of work.
The Mountaineers plated two more runs in the sixth to increase its lead to 6-0. After a strike out by Jake Serfass to begin the inning, pinch hitter Stan Posluszny reached on a walk. Travis D’Amico followed with a single and Grimm doubled in Posluszny and D’Amico.
WVU got another run in the seventh on back-to-back doubles by McCabe and Kurtis Clinton and produced three insurance runs in the ninth.
Grimm and McCabe had three hits each for the Mountaineers, now 36-18. Fritz, Psomas and D’Amico had two hits each. Fritz established a school record for multi-hit games in a season with 29.
Virginia Tech finishes its season with a 34-23 record.
