Baseball: BC Takes Two In BIG EAST Opener
March 24, 2005 07:02 PM | General
By Scott Castleman for MSNsportsNET.com
March 24, 2005
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team dropped a pair of games in its BIG EAST opening series to Boston College 7-2 and 7-4 on Thursday, March 24, at Hawley Field in Morgantown, W.Va..
The Eagles (13-5) jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the Mountaineers (8-13) in the first game of the doubleheader en route to a 7-2 victory.
Boston College got on the board in the second inning as WVU's Shawn Miller threw a wild pitch to the backstop that allowed Jason Delaney to score from third base.
In the top of the fourth the Eagles would make the score 2-0 as right fielder Chad McKown allowed a ground ball hit by Marco Albano to slip between his legs and score Mike Flynn from third base.
WVU let the game get away in the top of the fifth inning as Boston College scored five runs. Shawn McGill and Flynn both knocked in RBIs in the inning, while Delaney knocked in a pair of runs. Johnny Ayers also scored in the inning on a wild pitch.
The Mountaineers would try to rally in the bottom of the seventh. Senior Lee Fritz led off with a walk and was then moved over to second on a ground out by McKown. After Kyle Matuszek struck out, freshman Michael Burger stepped to the plate and belted a double to centerfield that scored Fritz. Burger would later score on a wild pitch to give WVU its final run of the game.
BC senior pitcher Mike Wloderczyk (4-1) went the distance as he allowed only two Mountaineer hits in the seven inning game. Drafted in the 15th round in last year's draft, Wloderczyk struck out five batters and allowed one earned run.
Miller (2-3) picked up the loss for WVU as he went five innings, allowing six earned runs on eight hits. The Troy, N.Y., native also struck out five batters and walked three.
Sophomore Trent Ridgley pitched two innings of relief. Ridgley allowed only two hits and walked one.
In the second game of the doubleheader the Mountaineers jumped out to a 2-0 lead, however, a five run fourth inning by BC would dash WVU's hopes of splitting the series.
In the bottom of the second Doug Nelms hit into fielder's choice that allowed Ridgley to score from third. Fritz would score in the bottom of the third inning on a wild pitch.
Mistakes proved to be the downfall of the Mountaineers in the fourth as Boston College would get five runs on only two hits. Three errors allowed three unearned runs to cross the plate. RBIs by McGill and Albano capped off the scoring to put BC up 5-2.
In the bottom of the fourth left fielder Casey Bowling picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice as he knocked in David Carpenter. WVU would close the gap to 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth as McKown sent a double into right center field that scored Fritz.
Cutting the score to 5-4 would be as close as the Mountaineers would get as McGill and Delaney each drove in runs in the top of the eighth for the Eagles to give BC the 7-4 win.
Joe Martinez (4-1) picked up the win for Boston College as he went seven innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out seven batters.
Kevin Boggan got his second save of the season as he allowed three hits in two innings, striking out one.
Travis McGrath (0-1) took the loss after 3.1 innings of work and allowing two earned runs on four hits and five walks. Senior Chris Amedro pitched 5.2 innings of relief and allowed two earned runs.
The Mountaineers return to action at Hawley Field against BIG EAST foe Georgetown in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 26, at 1 p.m.
