Baseball: WVU Swept by Huskies
April 15, 2006 05:52 PM | General
April 15, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University baseball team was unable to avoid the sweep as BIG EAST foe Connecticut claimed games two and three at Hawley Field on Saturday, April 15, in Morgantown, W.Va.
The Mountaineers (25-11, 5-7 BIG EAST) fell, 7-5, in the first game that was suspended Friday evening due to heavy rain showers.
WVU trailed the first game 3-0 in the top of the fourth when play was resumed on Saturday morning, but put together a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead.
UConn would fire back in the bottom of the ninth though, as Mountaineer pitcher Joe Stupka retired the first two hitters but loaded the bases on a walk and to hit batters. The tying run then came on a balk by Stupka and a single to center by junior Larry Day scored two more runs.
Stupka took the loss for the Mountaineers to drop his record to 3-2, while Nick Tucci improved to 7-0.
In the second game the Huskies (24-10, 11-3 BIG EAST) closed the series out with a 13-8 victory. Connecticut built a 7-0 lead on pitcher Eric Saffell, who only made it 3.1 innings before getting pulled.
With the Mountaineers trailing 13-4 in the bottom of the ninth junior Justin Jenkins and senior Kyle Matuszek would try to make the game interesting with a pair of two-run home runs, but the four runs would not be enough.
Jenkins led WVU at the plate throughout the day as he went 4-for-9 at the plate with three RBI, four runs scored and two home runs. The Ridgeley, W.Va., native now has a 19-game hitting streak.
Stan Posluszny was also apposing at the plate, going 3-for-nine with five RBI, two runs scored and a home run.
Saffel falls to 4-1 with the loss, while reliever David Bodge got his first decision of the season for UConn.
The Mountaineers will look to get back on track when they travel to College, Park, Md., to face Maryland on Tuesday, April 18, at 7 p.m.
