Baseball: WVU Hosts Louisville this Weekend
April 20, 2006 02:41 PM | General
April 20, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University baseball team looks to end its eight-game losing streak when it hosts Louisville on Friday, April 21, at 7:05 p.m. at Hawley Field.
Friday’s game is the first of three against the Cardinals, with the Mountaineers and Louisville playing on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., as well. All three games will air on WAJR and can also be heard on the Internet through CSTV All Access.
WVU (25-12, 5-7 BIG EAST) will look for better innings from its pitching staff as the group has struggled to overcome some mid-season adversity. Through the first 29 games of the season the staff held a combined earned run average of 3.01, but since then has posted an ERA of 7.15.
The Mountaineers will look to rebound at the plate, as well. Senior left fielder Casey Bowling and junior third baseman Justin Jenkins have paced West Virginia offensively through this tough stretch as both have batted .394 with slugging percentages of .667 and two home runs.
In the BIG EAST standings, WVU owns three of the top 10 hitters in the conference with Adam White ranking fifth (.425), Jenkins seventh (.413) and Brent Lockhart 10th (.375).
Louisville (16-21, 7-5 BIG EAST) has sputtered as of late too, losing its last game to Kentucky, 1-3, on Wednesday and dropping two of three games to South Florida last weekend in Tampa.
The Cardinals have not hit the ball exceptionally well all season as the team has posted a combined average of .278. Jorge Castillo leads the team with a .333 average and 27 RBI.
Louisville won the only game between the two schools with the Cardinals downing WVU 4-0 in 2001.
