Baseball: WVU Earns Split at Virginia Tech
April 24, 2004 12:12 AM | General
April 23, 2004
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| Lipscomb |
BLACKSBURG, Va. – After being routed in game one 20-1, the WVU baseball team rebounded with an 8-2 victory in the nightcap to earn a doubleheader split with BIG EAST rival Virginia Tech Friday evening at English Field.
In the nightcap Jake Serfass got the Mountaineers off to a good start with a leadoff home run, his sixth of the season, on the second pitch of the game.
West Virginia starter Ryan Lipscomb worked out of an early jam and gained some confidence after striking out Wyatt Toregas and getting Matt Kalish to ground out with the bases loaded in the first inning.
In the top of the second inning, Kyle Matuszek and Doug Nelms each singled and David Carpenter walked to load the bases for Serfass, who delivered with a single up the middle to plate Matuszek. Virginia Tech starter Ryan Kennedy walked Grant Psomas to score Nelms from third base and Lee Fritz followed with a sacrifice fly to center to score Carpenter, giving WVU a 4-0 advantage.
Sophomore Stan Posluszny got things started for the Mountaineers in the top of the fifth with a leadoff double to right field. After a Kurtis Clinton single, both runners advanced on a Kennedy wild pitch. Matuszek and Nelms then laid down back-to-back bunt singles to score Posluszny and Clinton to give WVU a 6-0 lead. Matuszek scored on a fielder’s choice by Carpenter to close out West Virginia’s three-run fifth inning.
Lipscomb (1-1), who had a 7.84 ERA with 11 walks in 10.1 innings pitched coming into Friday, took a shutout into the seventh inning before the Hokies scored on a sacrifice fly by Sean O’Brien. The sophomore southpaw picked up his first victory of the season after allowing two runs on five hits through seven innings pitched, striking out seven and walking six in the process.
Reliever Chris Amedro came on and recorded the final six outs of the game. WVU’s Nelms paced the offense with three hits and a stolen base while Serfass added two hits and two RBI.
Kennedy (3-5) took the loss for Virginia Tech, allowing seven runs on nine hits through 4.1 innings pitched while striking out three and walking four.
In game one it was all Virginia Tech.
West Virginia’s lone run came in the third when Justin Richards led off the inning with a base-hit to center, eventually advanced to third after a Serfass single, and then scored on a fielder’s choice by Psomas.
The Hokies, which tallied 20 total hits in the game, exploded for five runs in the third inning and 10 runs in the fourth off WVU starter Shawn Miller.
Leading the offensive attack for Virginia Tech was left fielder Matt Foley, who went 4 for 4 with five RBI and two runs scored, including a base-clearing double with the bases loaded to key his team’s 10-run fourth inning.
Virginia Tech’s Chris Stanton went 4 for 5 with two RBI and three runs scored while Sheldon Adams went 3 for 4 and knocked in four runs, including a two-run triple to centerfield in the third inning.
Miller (4-5) took the loss in the worst outing of his career, allowing 15 runs, 10 earned, on 13 hits while walking four through 3.1 innings pitched.
Hokie starter Josh Biber (3-0) went the full seven innings to pick up the victory, allowing one run on six hits while striking out four and walking one.
West Virginia moved to 13-22 overall and 4-11 in the BIG EAST while Virginia Tech is now 20-17 on the season and 7-8 in the conference.
The Mountaineers will now travel to Bethesda, Md., to take on BIG EAST foe Georgetown in a doubleheader on Sunday, April 25, starting at noon.
