Huskies Take Game One
May 11, 2007 06:02 PM | General
May 11, 2007
BOX SCORE
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| Josh Whitlock |
STORRS, Conn. – Sophomore Josh Whitlock’s second career conference start was good but not good enough as the WVU baseball team was downed by Connecticut 5-0, on a soggy Friday afternoon at J.O. Christian Field.
“Mike Tarsi pitched a great game and really shut us down offensively,” head coach Greg Van Zant said. “Josh did a great job for us, we just didn’t give him any help with some runs.”
Whitlock, a native of Given, W.Va., and former state player of the year, gave up just one run in the first six innings before the Huskies managed to plate four runs in the last two innings. Whitlock gave up nine hits on the day and takes the loss to fall to 6-5.
His counterpart, UConn starter Mike Tarsi (4-4), pitched a complete game shutout of a Mountaineer team that came into this weekend with the league’s second best team batting average (.324). Tarsi allowed seven hits and struck out eight. It was Tarsi’s second complete game in his last three league starts.
West Virginia (26-20, 7-14 BIG EAST) now falls to 10th in the league standings and needs to win at least one of the last two games of the series to have a realistic chance to make the BIG EAST tournament. With the win, UConn (25-23, 7-12 BIG EAST) jumps the Mountaineers into ninth place.
The Mountaineers had a chance to tie the game 1-1 in the seventh. WVU attempted to score the tying run on Mike Burger’s single to left field but baserunner Chris Enourato was thrown out at the plate. Enourato rounded third as the throw from left field was relayed by Pat Mahoney to catcher Larry Day to get the inning’s final out.
That play swung momentum in UConn’s favor. Whitlock walked the first two batters in bottom of the seventh before Pat Mahoney laid down a sacrifice bunt to put both runners in scoring position. No. 9 hitter Harold Brantley then delivered a big blow with a two-run single just by Jason Pape into right field to put UConn ahead 3-0.
The Huskies then tacked on two more insurance runs off of a tired Whitlock in the eighth to go up, 5-0.
UConn put its first run on the board in the third inning as leadoff hitter Peter Fatse teed off on a 1-1 pitch over the right field fence for a solo homerun.
Burger was 2 for 3 to lead WVU at the plate. Adam White had a double and a stolen base. Mahoney and Dennis Donovan each led UConn with two hits.
The shutout was just the second this season for WVU and the first time that West Virginia’s offense didn’t score a run since a 3-0 loss to Cleveland State on Feb. 18.
The Mountaineers and Huskies resume the series tomorrow at noon.
