Baseball: WVU Hosts Hoyas to End Regular Season
May 16, 2007 05:16 PM | General
May 16, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University baseball team will close its regular season when it hosts Georgetown for a three-game conference series May 17-19 at Hawley Field.
The series will kick off with a 7:05 p.m. contest on Thursday, May 17. Friday’s 7:05 p.m. contest will serve as Dollar Night with hot dogs, popcorn, Coca-Cola and all tickets available for only $1 each. The Mountaineers and Hoyas will close out the series with a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday, May 19.
West Virginia (27-21, 8-15) returns home after back-to-back weekends on the road. The Mountaineers most recently traveled north to take on Connecticut. WVU went 1-2 in that series with an impressive win in game two. Junior Matt Yurish (3-5) threw a complete-game shutout as the Mountaineers hammered the Huskies 14-0 on Saturday, May 12. The Martinsburg, W.Va., native was named to the BIG EAST’s weekly Honor Roll for his efforts in game two. Shortstop Tyler Kuhn went 4-for-5 with five RBI and a home run. Throughout the three game series, West Virginia never dipped into its bullpen as all three starting pitchers recorded complete games.
Left fielder Justin Jenkins leads the Mountaineer offense with a .389 average and 21 doubles. First baseman Jordon Yost has a team-best 11 home runs while Kuhn has recorded 49 RBI. Right-handed pitcher Josh Whitlock (6-5) boasts a 3.99 ERA after 65 and 1/3 innings of work. Both Yurish and fellow lefty Kenny Durst (5-4) have struck out a team-high 69 batters each over a combined 156 innings on the mound.
As a team, West Virginia’s .320 batting average ranks second in the conference while its pitching staff has allowed the third lowest number of hits this season. When it comes to BIG EAST games, utility player Trent Ridgley boasts the third-best batting average against conference opponents (.407) while Jenkins ranks second in total bases (59).
Georgetown (20-32, 7-17) journeys to Morgantown after dropping two of three games to Villanova May 12-13. The Hoyas avoided a series sweep by taking an 8-3 win from the Wildcats on Sunday. Outfielder Mark McLaughlin leads Georgetown with a .364 batting average, 72 hits and 17 doubles. Southpaw Michael Gaggioli (2-5) is sporting a 2.85 ERA after 79.0 innings on the mound. Righty Jimmy Saris (3-6) has registered a team-best 75 strikeouts over 84 1/3 innings.
The Mountaineers are 21-27 all-time against the Hoyas since the series began in 1902.
