Strong Start
February 28, 2006 05:05 PM | General
February 28, 2006
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| Dan Leatherman |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the first time in a long time, the West Virginia University baseball team is going to finish its early-season southern swing with a winning record. That was assured last weekend when the Mountaineers took two of three games at the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, N.C., to boost its overall record to 5-1.
After dropping a 12-4 decision to No. 18-rated N.C. State on Friday, West Virginia rebounded to shutout Virginia Tech, 5-0 on Saturday and then turned around and beat a tough-luck Penn State team, 5-4 in 10 innings on Sunday morning. Even if West Virginia loses all three of this weekend’s games in Conway, S.C., the worst the Mountaineers can be heading into a lengthy home stand is 5-4.
That’s a remarkable improvement from a West Virginia baseball program that has had losing campaigns in three of its last four seasons.
“Everybody feels a sense of accomplishment because we did accomplish something down there,” said West Virginia coach Greg Van Zant. “It’s hard to shutout anybody and we beat a Penn State team that didn’t want to leave there with three losses. They went to Tulane and lost three to a team that went to Omaha last year.
“And then in this tournament they lost to East Carolina in the bottom of the ninth inning by one run and N.C. State also beat them by one run,” Van Zant said.
Considering the circumstances, Van Zant couldn’t be more pleased with his team’s performance.
“The thing about the Penn State game was that it was such an emotional game,” Van Zant said. “Penn State didn’t want to leave there without a win and we wanted to get another win so it was a back and forth game.
“We had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth and couldn’t get it done, but we would not give in. It was one of those really well-played college baseball games.”
The coach was also happy with the way his team rebounded after its eight-run loss to N.C. State on Friday, shutting out a Virginia Tech team that always gives West Virginia problems.
“We had a very mature approach to losing the N.C. State game,” Van Zant said. “We were able to forget it and move on to the next game.”
West Virginia has benefited from solid pitching, especially from junior college transfers Dan Leatherman and Joe Stupka. Leatherman improved to 2-0 with 5.2-inning relief performance against Penn State, allowing just one earned run on six hits with five strikeouts. In a team-best 10.2 innings of work, Leatherman has a 0.84 earned run average with a team best 10 strikeouts.
Stupka went six strong innings against Virginia Tech, blanking the Hokies on just two hits to pick up his first win of the season. Stupka was able to work around five walks.
“Those two junior college transfer pitchers that we got, and even Eric Saffell who we didn’t use this weekend … we’ve got two or three that compete well and know how to pitch,” said Van Zant. “They look comfortable on the mound.”
Perhaps the most comfortable is Leatherman, a Frederick Community College standout last year and a native of Frederick, Md.
“What he does is he comes in the game and he attacks the hitters,” said Van Zant. “He’s got a little zip on his fastball, his breaking ball is sharp that he throws to the knees, he’s got a decent changeup and he throws a split. He’s got three or four pitches going for him and he’s a competitor.”
West Virginia’s pitching staff has a combined 2.42 earned run average with opponents batting just .235. The staff has yet to give up a home run in six games.
The lineup has done its share, too. After six games second baseman Tyler Kuhn and third baseman Justin Jenkins are both hitting .417. Senior Stan Posluszny has the team’s only home run and is batting .375 with a team-best 10 RBI and a .583 slugging percentage.
Even David Carpenter, a glove-first hit-second catcher, is swinging the bat well at a .368 clip. Overall, the Mountaineers are batting .306 and have outscored the opposition 40-23 in its six games.
“There is a lot of positive talk on the field and in the dugout between innings,” Van Zant said. “All the players that aren’t in the game seem to be doing a good job staying loose and staying ready in case they’re called on to go in and pitch, pinch run or pinch hit.”
West Virginia will be tested again this weekend in Conway, S.C., facing 3-4 Furman on Friday before playing Saturday-Sunday games against 3-6 Coastal Carolina.
“We’re anxious to get back out there and play,” Van Zant said.
