Doubleheader Split
May 10, 2008 10:26 PM | General
May 10, 2008
BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 | PHOTO GALLERY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia took one step closer to postseason play with a 5-2 victory over Louisville in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader with the Cardinals at Hawley Field.
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| West Virginia catcher Tobias Streich attempts to block the plate during the first game of Saturday's doubleheader with Louisville. The Mountaineers and the Cardinals split the twinbill.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Louisville (34-17, 14-9) took game one, 6-2, behind a pair of home runs from third baseman Chris Dominguez, his 15th and 16th of the year. West Virginia had the tying run on deck in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, but Cardinal reliever B.J. Rosenberg got Vince Belnome to ground into a game-ending double play.
Louisville out-hit West Virginia 13-11, and took advantage of a pair of Mountaineer errors. Leadoff hitter John Dao went 4 for 5 for the Cardinals while Jedd Gyorko and Belnome had three hits each for the Mountaineers. Louisville starter Justin Marks pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up one earned run on seven hits with seven strikeouts to improve to 6-1. WVU starter Josh Whitlock took the loss and drops to 7-5.
In the nightcap, West Virginia got a complete-game performance from senior Matt Yurish, pitching his last regular season game at Hawley Field. Yurish improves to 6-1.
“My main goal was to get ahead,” Yurish said. “They have a really good hitting lineup and I just tried to go out there and throw strikes and keep the ball down like we always do and make a couple of pitches.”
Yurish has come on of late after being bumped from the weekend rotation for a portion of the season due to wildness. After walking the leadoff hitter tonight, Yurish did not issue another free pass the rest of the way
“The beginning of the season I would go out there and in five innings I would walk four or five guys and you can’t have any success that way,” Yurish said. “I kept working throughout the season, I made some adjustments, and now I’ve got it down to one or two (walks) a game.”
Yurish said he didn’t do anything special in keeping Louisville’s lineup off-balance in the second game.
“I tried to hit some spots and keep the ball down and not let them have pitches they could do a whole lot with,” he said. “Luckily I had good control tonight and I was hitting low and away pretty well. It’s tough for guys to lift that pitch and drive it.”
Yurish was also effective in a 17-3 rout of Connecticut two weeks ago, giving up just two earned runs while striking out six and walking just one.
West Virginia (33-15, 12-11) got three big runs in the second. With one out, Mark Dvoroznak singled in Jordon Yost, who reached on a walk. A bunt single by Justin Parks loaded the bases for Tyler Kuhn, who singled in a pair to left.
The Mountaineers added another run in the third when Austin Markel’s triple down the right field line was misplayed by Stewart James into another run.
West Virginia’s fifth run of the game came in the fourth when a wild pitch plated Dvoroznak from third. Justin Parks and Dvoroznak had four of West Virginia’s seven hits.
Cardinal starter Zack Pitts lasted just three innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits to drop to 5-6 on the season.
The victory snaps a four-game losing streak for the Mountaineers.
Today’s split keeps West Virginia in fifth place in the Big East standings with four regular season games remaining. The top eight teams in the conference qualify for the Big East Tournament to be played at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla., May 20-24.
The Mountaineers have lefthander Stephen Morrison and righthander Billy Gross available to start Sunday’s game.
“It’s a huge game tomorrow and they’re really good team,” Yurish said. “We’re just going to come out tomorrow and try and play a good game and get a win.”
Tomorrow’s game has been moved up an hour to a noon start. Both WAJR AM-1440 and student radio station WWVU-FM 92 will carry the game locally in Morgantown.
