Baseball: WVU Drops 4-2 Decision
March 30, 2004 12:43 PM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
March 30, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Niagara used a strong fourth inning in posting a 4-2 decision over West Virginia on a raining Tuesday evening at Hawley Field.
West Virginia (8-14) scored first for the fourth time this season on a Grant Psomas RBI in the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead.
The Purple Eagles took advantage of three Mountaineer errors in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. Vince Ircandia, Reed Eastley and Mike Alati all scored runs as Niagara never looked back.
WVU narrowed the deficit with a run in the fifth inning. Second baseman Kyle Matuszek singled and catcher Travis D’Amico followed with a base-hit of his own to put runners on the corners. D’Amico attempted to steal second base but was thrown out while Matuszek advanced home to make the score 3-2 in favor of Niagara.
Niagara’s fourth and final run of the contest came in the eighth inning. Alati scored his second run of the evening on an RBI single by Andrew MacNevin.
Freshman Levi Maxwell picked up the loss despite surrendering just one earned run on four hits, in five solid innings. Wes Osbourn pitched four solid innings of relief giving up one unearned on four hits.
The Mountaineers, who have not scored more than three runs in their last four games, tallied just six hits against the Purple Eagles. Outfielders Casey Bowling and Jake Serfass collected four of the hits as both finished 2-for-4 on the night.
Niagara, who picked up a win at Pitt earlier in the week, improves to 6-13 on the season. Kyle Nicoletta pitched six innings of relief in earning his second victory of the year.
The Mountaineers fall to 7-4 at home against non-conference foes this season.
West Virginia travels to Rutgers this weekend for its BIG EAST road opener. A doubleheader is set for Saturday, April 3, beginning at noon. A single game concludes the series on Sunday, April 4, also at noon.
