Series Sweep
March 26, 2006 04:41 PM | General
March 26, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia used good pitching and solid defense to win its first two games against Pitt. Today, the Mountaineer hitters let it rip. Stan Posluszny got the team’s second grand slam of the season and Justin Jenkins crushed a pitch over the ticket booth well behind the left field fence to help West Virginia to a 13-4 victory over the Panthers and a three-game series sweep at Hawley Field.
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| West Virginia coach Greg Van Zant talks to his catcher David Carpenter on the pitching mound during Sunday's Big East Conference baseball game against Pittsburgh. The Mountaineers won 13-4 to sweep the three-game series.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
It is the first time since 1997 that West Virginia has won all three regular season games against the Panthers and reverses a recent trend that has seen Pitt win six straight and seven of the last nine games heading into this year.
“They’ve had better teams than us for a while and it’s still not decided who has got the better team because there is still a lot of baseball to be played,” said West Virginia coach Greg Van Zant. “We out-played them this weekend but it’s a long season.”
This year is also the first time since 1997 that the Mountaineers have started Big East play 3-0.
“We’re 3-0 in the conference right now and we couldn’t have asked for a better weekend and we’re just going to try and prepare to play tomorrow and Tuesday, and then head on up to Seton Hall for the weekend,” Posluszny said.
Jenkins went 2 for 3 with three RBI and Posluszny had five runs batted in. Jenkins, a Ridgeley, W.Va., resident and a former Potomac State transfer, has been on a tear of late. In his last six games, Jenkins is 14 of 26 with three home runs and seven RBI to raise his batting average to .402. He has a team-best seven home runs with 22 RBI.
“I’m seeing the ball pretty well and I’m staying calm in the batter’s box and putting good hacks on the ball,” Jenkins said.
“He is one of the best hitters in our league and probably in the country,” added Posluszny. “You can’t say enough about Justin Jenkins and it is great hitting behind him.”
Jenkins has been playing designated hitter of late to nurse a strained tricep muscle in his throwing arm but he expects to be back out at third in time for next weekend’s three-game Big East series at Seton Hall.
“I’m working my arm with the trainer and getting it ready for this weekend,” Jenkins said.
Junior Jason Pape has been playing third in his absence.
Tyler Kuhn and Adam White had three hits apiece to lead West Virginia’s 15-hit attack against the Panthers. Casey Bowling and Doug Nelms had two hits each.
All 13 of West Virginia’s runs came in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
Benefiting from the offensive production was Mountaineer pitcher Marty Fagler, who gave up three earned runs on five hits in seven innings of work. The senior struck out four and walked five to improve to 3-1. Trent Ridgley pitched the final two innings, allowing a pair of hits while striking out three.
“That’s a pretty good third pitcher to put out there but we didn’t pitch them in any specific order – that’s just the way it came up,” Van Zant said of having Fagler pitch the third game of the series. “If we would have played St. Bonaventure on Tuesday, (Joe) Stupka was going to pitch that game and then come back today. We have a lot of confidence in several guys and Marty went out there and did what he had to do.”
Panther starter Paul Nardozzi was chased out of the game in the fifth, giving up 13 runs (11 earned) on 13 hits. Nardozzi, who came into the game with a team-best 1.15 earned run average, falls to 4-2.
Pitt drops to 11-11, 2-4.
“They have a good team and they will finish well in the conference,” said Posluszny. “This is a big confidence booster for us to beat a team like this.”
“They have a good ball club; they’ve got three quality starting pitchers and we played well and jumped on them a little bit and things sort of went our way,” Van Zant said.
West Virginia (19-3, 3-0) now has the nation’s fourth-longest win streak at 13 games and faces Maryland-Eastern Shore in a non-conference game at Hawley Field on Monday afternoon at 3 pm. The Hawks were 6-15-1 heading into today’s doubleheader with Coppin State.
