Baseball: WVU Welcomes Eastern Michigan
March 16, 2006 03:51 PM | General
March 16, 2006
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| Casey Bowling |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team will look to continue its six-game winning streak as the Eastern Michigan Eagles come to Hawley Field in Morgantown, W.Va., Friday, March 17, at 3 p.m.
West Virginia and Eastern Michigan will play a three-game series with games at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 18, and Sunday, March 19.
The Mountaineers (12-3) are fresh off of last-minute heroics from Justin Jenkins in WVU’s 5-4 win over Norfolk State on Wednesday. Jenkins’ game-winning single stretched the Mountaineers’ winning streak to six games and gave skipper Greg Van Zant his 325th career win at West Virginia. WVU is now a perfect 12-0 when scoring at least five runs and WVU also moved up two spots in the Northeast Baseball Review poll to rank No. 8 this week.
Senior left fielder Casey Bowling has had the hot bat for the Mountaineers as of late. Bowling has rebounded impressively after a slow start to bat .375, with two home runs and 13 RBI. His timely hitting in the middle of the lineup has been key in the Mountaineers’ current six-game winning streak.
Jenkins has also exploded at the plate for WVU through the first quarter of the season. The Ridgeley, W.Va., native has four home runs and 16 RBI to go with a .371 batting average.
However, the early season success has been due in large part to the Mountaineer pitching staff, which has an ERA of 3.26. Junior transfer Dan Leatherman picked up the win over Norfolk State to improve to 4-0. Leatherman’s ERA is now 1.83 in 19.2 innings of action this season.
The Eagles (4-7) have been lead by sophomore Josh Ivan who is batting .333 in 11 games this season. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jeff Fischer is 3-1 with a 1.63 ERA in 27.2 innings this season, including one complete game.
The Eagles’ last game was on March 5, wrapping up a series against BIG EAST member Louisville in Louisville, Ky. The teams split the four-game series at two apiece.
