Battling the Bearcats
April 12, 2007 03:22 PM | General
April 12, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – This weekend’s three-game series with Cincinnati could go a long way in determining West Virginia’s post-season plans this season. The Mountaineers take on the Bearcats Friday night at 7 pm, Saturday afternoon at 2 pm and Sunday afternoon at 1 pm.
 |
||
| West Virginia's Jordon Yost has a team-best seven home runs to go with a .349 batting average.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
All three games will air locally on U-92 FM while Saturday’s and Sunday’s games will also be carried by WAJR-AM 1440.
“It’s an important series because we’re tied with those guys and whoever can win the series will have an edge in making the playoffs,” said West Virginia coach Greg Van Zant.
The Mountaineers and Bearcats both sport 4-5 Big East records, joining Seton Hall in sixth place in the league standings. Rutgers sits atop the Big East with a 7-2 record, followed by 6-3 Louisville and St. John’s; USF if fourth at 8-4 while Pitt is fifth at 7-4.
West Virginia swept a non-conference doubleheader from Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday afternoon and takes a 20-10 record into Friday night having won three in a row. After dropping the first two games at South Florida last weekend, the Mountaineers claimed game three 16-5.
“We played right with Louisville and South Florida but we lost three games by one run,” said Van Zant. “We knew we could win but we hadn’t done it yet. To get a big road win like that does a lot for your confidence.”
West Virginia’s 4-5 record in Big East play is about where Van Zant expected his young team to be.
“When the Big East schedule was announced and I saw this year’s schedule, I thought if we were 4-5 after the first three weeks we’d be in pretty decent shape,” he admitted. “I was hoping we could be Seton Hall two out of three at home and I was hoping to go to Louisville and South Florida and get a win. We were fortunate to sweep Seton Hall so we kind of in a round-about way got to where I hoped we would be.”
Cincinnati (18-14) is coming off a series win at home against Notre Dame last weekend, taking games one and two by scores of 4-3. The Irish won the third game 9-5. Cincinnati dropped two out of three on the road at Pitt and Georgetown to open Big East play.
“It’s a difficult league,” Van Zant said. “It’s hard to get wins on the road in this league. Pitt beat South Florida a game and swept two from Notre Dame and they went down to Louisville and won two out of three; it’s hard to beat Pitt at Pitt. I think Cincinnati did well to get a win on the road at each place.”
Van Zant says the Bearcats have outstanding starting pitching to go with excellent team speed. Expected game one starter Steve Blevins owns a 5-4 record with a 3.10 earned run average, striking out 45 in 61 innings of work. Opponents are batting .274 against the right hander.
Expected game two starter Dan Osterbrock has been even more effective, posting a 5-1 record with an outstanding 2.97 earned run average. Opponents are hitting just .214 against the left hander.
“They’ve got some real good pitching,” Van Zant said. “(Coach) Brian Cleary has the new stadium over there and he’s really been able to recruit well. They pitch well and they’ve got a lot of players returning.”
The Bearcats also boast one of the most formidable running games in the Big East. Junior outfielder Tony Campana has stolen 40 bases in 32 games, getting caught just four times. Shortstop Adam Yeager is 18 of 19 in stolen base tries while Josh Harrison is 16 of 18. Overall, Cincinnati is 87 of 99 stealing bases so far this season.
“They’ve got a good running game and over there at their new stadium they’ve got Field Turf and it’s a fast surface,” Van Zant said.
Harrison leads Cincinnati with eight home runs to go with a .323 batting average and 37 RBI. Neall French has seven home runs, 39 RBI and a team-best .336 batting average.
“Harrison is a real good athlete. He can play third and he can play in the outfield if they need him to,” Van Zant said. “They’ve got Adam Yeager from Huntington playing shortstop for them. He’s a real good player.”
West Virginia’s Justin Jenkins brings a .437 batting average and a 29-game hitting streak into Friday night’s game. The senior is one hit shy of tying Josh Williamson’s school record 30-game hitting streak set between the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
Jenkins leads the team with 18 doubles and 34 RBI. Redshirt freshman first baseman Jordon Yost has slammed a team-best seven home runs in just 83 at bats to go with a .349 batting average.
“I don’t know that we have ever had a freshman to my knowledge that has been able to hit that well starting off,” Van Zant said.
Sophomore centerfielder Adam White is hitting .400 and has a .452 on-base percentage. Six Mountaineer regulars are hitting better than .300 and West Virginia’s .334 team batting average currently leads the Big East.
Junior lefthander Matt Yurish gets the nod in Friday’s game. Yurish is 1-2 with a 3.12 earned run average in 40 1/3 innings of work.
“I’m not sure what we’re going to do other than throwing Matt Yurish in the first game,” Van Zant said.
The 13th-year coach expects three difficult games this weekend.
“We’re going to have to really work to manufacture runs,” Van Zant said.
