Baseball: WVU Down Irish To Advance In BIG EAST
May 21, 2008 06:03 PM | General
May 21, 2008
BOX SCORE
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Austin Markel hit a three-run home run in the first and Jedd Gyorko hit a grand slam in the second inning in leading West Virginia to a 13-6 victory over No. 3-seeded Notre Dame Wednesday afternoon at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla.
The Mountaineer offense was led by Gyorko, who finished the day with a pair of hits and five RBI. Senior Tyler Kuhn went 4 for 5 with one RBI and scored twice, while Parks had two hits and three runs. Kuhn's four hits give him 99 for the season, one shy of becoming the first player in school history to record 100 hits in a season.
The win ended a five-game losing streak by the Mountaineers and the first win against Notre Dame in Big East Tournament play since 1996, when WVU won the league title, 7-4.
WVU (35-20) registered 13 runs on 12 hits and committed one error, while Notre Dame (33-21-1) closed its season with six runs on 10 hits.
Sophomore Stephen Morrison (6-3) earned the victory for the Mountaineers, allowing five runs on eight hits, walking five, and striking out four in seven innings of work. Notre Dame’s David Phelps (5-5) suffered the loss for the Irish, allowing 12 runs and 10 hits, walking two, and striking out three in 5.2 innings.
Justin Parks led off the game with a double to right center and advanced to third on Kuhn’s single down the left field line. Vince Belnome then walked to load the bases for Joe Agreste, who grounded out to second to plate Parks. Markel followed with a three-run home run to give the Mountaineers an early 4-0 lead.
Brent Lockhart reached on a bunt single and was sacrificed to second by Grant Buckner. After a Parks walk and Kuhn's second hit loaded the bases, Gyroko hit a laser beam over the left field wall for his second grand slam home run of the season to put West Virginia ahead 8-1.
The Mountaineers tacked on five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Parks hit an RBI triple to plate Buckner, Kuhn dropped down a two-out bunt to bring in Parks before Gyorko doubled in Kuhn.
Belnome plated Gyorko on a double to center and then moved to third on a wild pitch. Belmome was balked in to give the Mountaineers a 13-3 lead.
The Irish managed single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
The Mountaineers will face the loser of tonight's winner's bracket game between No. 2 Cincinnati and No. 6 South Florida. Tomorrow's game will get underway at 7 pm with WAJR-AM 1440 providing the play-by-play on the Internet through MSNsportsNET.com.
Live coverage can also be accessed by logging onto www.bigeastbaseball.com.
