Baseball: WVU Hammers Notre Dame, 16-7
April 22, 2007 05:30 PM | General
April 22, 2007
BOX SCORE
 |
||
| Justin Jenkins |
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The West Virginia University baseball team scored nine runs in the last three innings to defeat Notre Dame, 16-7, at Frank Eck Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The road win broke a 10 game-losing streak to the Irish and it is the Mountaineers’ first win in South Bend since 2003.
“This was a huge win for us, after having lost to them so many times over the last few years,” head coach Greg Van Zant said. “We were swinging the bats really well and Chris came in and pitched very strong for us. I can’t say enough about how well he pitched for us today.”
With the game tied 7-7 heading into the seventh, WVU’s offense put together three runs in the inning. Justin Jenkins led off with a double to right center and moved to third on a wild pitch. Senior DH Trent Ridgley scored Jenkins home with an RBI bunt single back to the mound. Vince Belnome brought Ridgley all the way home from first with a centerfield double and Mike Schmidt singled to plate Belnome to gain a 10-7 lead.
WVU added another run in the eighth when Austin Markel doubled in Jenkins, who had reached on a double the previous at bat.
The Mountaineers then sealed the game with five runs on six hits in the ninth and true freshman right-handed pitcher Chris Enourato went three up, three down to end the game.
West Virginia improves to 23-13 with a 6-8 league mark while Notre Dame moves to 21-18 and a 6-8 conference record.
Notre Dame held an early 4-1 lead after three innings before the WVU offense got rolling, scoring 15 runs in the final six innings.
Just as in game two, Notre Dame knocked around WVU’s starting pitcher, but this time it was junior left-hander Kenny Durst. The Irish managed to get nine hits and six earned runs off of Durst’s 3.1 innings on the mound. Enourato would relieve Durst, however, and hold the Irish in check the rest of the game.
Enourato (2-1) pitched the final 5.2 innings to get his second victory of the year. The Bridgeport, W.Va., native limited Notre Dame to just three hits and one earned run while fanning two.
On offense, the Mountaineers got a big day at the plate out of redshirt freshman first baseman Jordon Yost. Yost finished 3-for-5 with a double and four RBI. Jenkins finished 4-for-6 with two doubles and extended his school record hitting streak to an astonishing 35 games.
Belnome went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and three runs scored and was one of eight West Virginia starters who recorded at least two hits. The Mountaineers beat up Irish pitching for 20 total hits.
Notre Dame relief pitcher Dan Kapala (0-4) gets pinned with the loss. Kapala gave up three earned runs and four hits in his 2.1 innings of relief work.
First baseman Mike Drury was one of four Irish hitters with two hits. Drury was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk. DH Ryan Smith was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Leftfielder Ross Brezovsky also added two RBI for Notre Dame.
West Virginia returns home to host non-conference rival Maryland on Tuesday, April 24, at Hawley Field. The Terps (23-20, 7-14 ACC) lost to Duke 4-2, on Sunday and dropped their fourth straight conference series. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
The game will be “Dollar Night” with all tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and Coca-Colas available for purchase for just a dollar.
