Baseball: WVU Falls Short in Comeback Bid
May 12, 2008 08:11 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
May 12, 2008
MORGANTOWN. W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team fell short of another come-from-behind win by losing to Youngstown State, 13-9, on Monday night at Hawley Field.
The Mountaineers (35-16, 13-11) were hurt by three home runs from Penguins designated hitter Eric Marzec, who also had six RBIs on the day. WVU trailed 10-0 through four innings, before staging a furious comeback that cut the Penguin lead to 11-9, before Youngstown State added two insurance runs in the ninth.
WVU starter Bobby Thompson (0-1) took the loss after giving up five runs on five hits in 2.1 innings pitched. Youngstown State’s Adam Kalafos (5-3) earned the win after giving up five runs on seven hits in five innings pitched.
Five players had multi-hit games for WVU, including Austin Markel’s 3-for-5 effort that included a solo home run in the sixth inning. Justin Parks and Tyler Kuhn had two hits and two RBIs apiece to lead a Mountaineer offense that pounded 14 hits.
The Penguins (20-30, 11-11) jumped off to a hot start in the top of the first when cleanup batter Joe Iacobucci smacked a two-run single to right field to give Youngstown State an early 2-0 lead.
In the third, Youngstown State reeled off five runs on seven hits to force Thompson out of the game. Erich Diedrich hit a run-scoring single before Anthony Porter blasted a two-run home run over the right field wall to give the Penguins a 5-0 advantage. Iacobucci contributed with an RBI double, and Jason Reitenbach followed with a run-scoring single up the middle to make it 7-0.
The Penguins continued their offensive surge in the fourth when Marzec hit a two-out, three-run home run over the left field wall to extend the Youngstown State lead to 10-0.
After being held hitless through three innings, WVU began to produce in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded, Grant Buckner hit a slow roller that Kalafos could not field to bring in WVU’s first run. Mark Dvoroznak followed with an opposite-field single to right to plate Joe Agreste, making it 10-2. After Parks walked with the bases loaded, Kuhn followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to left trim the deficit to 10-4.
The Mountaineers added another run in the sixth when Markel led off the inning with a solo home run over the right field wall, his eighth of the season.
Parks’ RBI triple to right field and Kuhn’s run-scoring single gave WVU two runs with no outs to start the seventh. Agreste then had an RBI fielder’s choice, and Tobias Streich had a run-scoring single down the third base line to make it 11-9.
Marzec’s third home run clinched the victory for the Penguins, as he hit a two-run shot to left field in the top of the ninth.
The Mountaineers head to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats on Thursday, May 15, in their final three-game series of the regular season. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
