Baseball: WVU Faces St. John’s in BIG EAST Weekend
May 01, 2008 03:05 PM | General
May 1, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia baseball team will travel to Queens, N.Y., this weekend to take on BIG EAST foe, St. John’s in a three-game series at Jack Kaiser Stadium. Game one will be held on Friday, May 2, at 6 p.m. Game two will begin at 1 p.m., on Saturday, May 3, followed by the final game of the series at noon on Sunday, May 3.
WVU (32-11, 11-7 BIG EAST) and St. John’s (32-10, 13-5 BIG EAST) have met a total of 39 times since 1902. The Red Storm swept the Mountaineers last season in three games at Hawley field. The Mountaineers fell 8-7 in game one, 11-2 in game two and fell 7-2 in game three.
St. John’s currently leads the conference with a .722 winning percentage. The Red Storm is currently receiving votes in both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll released on April 28. St. John’s has been ranked eight out of 10 weeks this season. WVU is also receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll this week, its second week of the season.
The Red Storm is strong from the mound, recording a 3.52 total ERA, led by senior George Brown. Brown is 8-0 on the season, allowing 20 runs on 60 hits in 65.1 innings of work. Brown was recently named to the midseason watch list for the Dick Howser trophy, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards.
This past weekend, he threw a no-decision in a 6-4 win over Notre Dame. He scattered eight hits over seven innings and allowed three runs. After a first inning single, Brown retired six straight and 13 of the next 14 batters. Brown is projected to pitch on Friday night.
At the plate, Brian Kemp is leading the Storm with a .364 batting average. The sophomore has registered 27 runs on 44 hits, including three doubles, four triples and one home run. Freshman Paul Karmas leads the team with 53 hits, including a team-high 13 doubles while senior Chris Anninos leads the team with 10 home runs and 36 runs scored.
West Virginia has a firm hold on the BIG EAST offensive charts as the Mountaineers are hitting a collective .359 and slugging .561, leading the BIG EAST in both categories. The Mountaineers have scored 409 runs on the season and most recently swept Connecticut, their second BIG EAST sweep of the season, last weekend.
Six Mountaineers are batting .400 or above, led by third baseman Vince Belnome who has a .414 average on the year, and a team-best 59 RBIs. Senior Tyler Kuhn leads the pack with 79 hits, including 17 doubles, four triples, nine home runs and 61 runs scored.
On the mound, the Mountaineers will most likely look to junior right-hander Josh Whitlock (7-3, 4.81 ERA, 51 K, 38 BB) and Stephen Morrison (5-2, 3.82 ERA, 50 K, 40 BB) as starters. Sophomore Chris Enourato, who leads the team with six saves, will be counted on as WVU’s closer.
