Baseball: WVU Collects 18 Hits In Victory
April 20, 2004 08:51 PM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
April 20, 2004
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| Posluszny |
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The West Virginia University baseball team cranked out a season-high 18 hits and rode solid relief work from Todd Dunham in defeating Duquesne, 15-11, on a sunny Tuesday afternoon at Duquesne Field.
The Mountaineer offense hit early and often in Tuesday’s non-league contest. West Virginia struck first with a three-run first as outfielder Lee Fritz doubled to left center for WVU’s first hit of the game. Fritz would score on the next at bat as Stan Posluszny lined a pitch down the left field line. One batter later, first baseman Kurtis Clinton then crushed a fastball over the left field fence for a 3-0 lead.
In the second inning, West Virginia tallied six doubles in scoring five more runs to take an 8-0 advantage. Justin Richards, Jake Serfass, Fritz, Posluszny and Clinton all recorded doubles and scored runs for the Mountaineers. Second baseman Kyle Matuszek notched the other extra base hit, scoring Clinton on a two-bagger down the left field line.
Duquesne starter Mike Korzeniewski was removed midway through the second inning and took the loss, dropping to 1-2 on the season.
The teams traded runs in the third before Posluszny smashed his fifth home run of the year in the fourth inning. The sophomore crushed an 0-1 fastball over the right field fence to lead 4-1.
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| Dunham |
“This is a big win for us and Dunham was the difference in the game,” says head coach Greg Van Zant. “He stopped them from scoring and pitched a very solid game. Anytime you can win on the road, it feels great.”
Third baseman Richards began the fifth inning with a base hit to left field. After a David Carpenter sacrifice bunt, Serfass tallied his second double in scoring Richards. Freshman Richards has now hit safely in his last six games, while Serfass extended his to nine games.
“Several guys came up big in sacrifice at bats,” says Van Zant of his team’s four sacrifice hits. “We were able to move runners into scoring position and knock them in. That is what wins midweek ballgames.”
West Virginia extended its lead to 14-10 after Fritz and Posluszny earned back-to-back walks to open the seventh inning. Sophomore Matuszek then roped a single up the middle scoring both runners. Matuszek finished with three RBI on a career-high four hits in six at bats.
Six Mountaineers had multiple hits and WVU scored in all but one inning on Tuesday. WVU did not score in the eighth, their only 1-2-3 inning of the day.
Fritz finished 4-for-5 and a walk, while Posluszny went 3-for-3 with two walks. Dunham struckout five in his first victory of the season and worked a career-high 5.1 innings of work.
The Dukes fall to 12-17 on the season and have now lost 25 straight games to West Virginia. The last Duquesne victory came in 1990.
WVU returns to BIG EAST action with a pair of doubleheaders at Virginia Tech and Georgetown this weekend, April 23-25.
