Baseball: Van Zant Picks Up 400th Career Win
April 01, 2008 08:57 PM | General
April 1, 2008
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| Greg Van Zant |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team used an offensive explosion and two strong starting pitching performances to sweep Maryland Eastern-Shore in a pair of seven inning games, winning 23-7 in game one and 18-1 in game two, on a blustery Tuesday afternoon at Hawley Field.
The two victories mark the 399th and 400th career wins for West Virginia coach Greg Van Zant.
“I’m really thrilled about the wins,” West Virginia Coach Greg Van Zant said. “You have to have quality players and quality assistants in the program and we do. This win is a reflection on the whole program and the quality level we have.”
The Mountaineers scored 23 runs off 21 hits in game one to overpower the visiting Hawks. Starter Matt Yurish (2-1) got the win with a dominant outing, pitching five no-hit innings and striking out 11 of the 15 batters batters he retired before being replaced with a 22-0 lead in the sixth inning.
West Virginia (22-6) broke open the game in the fourth and fifth innings, scoring 10 and seven runs in each frame to take a 22-0 lead. The Mountaineers scored 10 runs on nine hits in the fourth and then followed that up with seven runs off four hits in the fifth.
Catcher Tobias Streich was 4-for-5 at the plate with five RBIs while third basemen Vince Belnome was 3-for-5 with five RBIs as well. Leftfielder Dan DiBartolomeo was a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Tyler Kuhn and Jordan Yost each added three RBIs to add to the offensive output.
Matt White (1-4) took the loss for Maryland Eastern-Shore (5-26) giving up 13 runs off 13 hits in 3.1 innings of work.
In game two, West Virginia used five hits to score six runs in the top of the first and cruised to an 18-1 victory. The Mountaineers pounded out 20 hits to score 18 runs in a game that was delayed 40 minutes due to rain.
Kuhn went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs to lead the Mountaineers. He was a homerun shy of being just the second West Virginia player ever to hit for the cycle. Centerfielder Austin Markel was 3-for-3 at the plate with a team-high five RBIs in game two.
Yost wowed the crowd in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a towering two-run home run run to left field to give WVU a 16-1 lead. The homer was the second of the season for Yost.
Jarryd Summers (3-2) got the win for WVU, giving up one run off six hits in 6.2 innings while striking out 10.
Dan Sterling (0-5) took the loss for UMES, giving up 10 earnerd runs off nine hits in just three innings of work.
West Virginia steps back into Big East play this weekend when it hosts USF for a three-game series that starts on Friday at Hawley Field. First-pitch for game one is set for 7:05 p.m.
