Baseball: WVU Prepares for Villanova
March 25, 2009 04:39 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
March 25, 2009
GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University baseball team takes its six-game winning streak to Plymouth Meeting, Pa., to take on BIG EAST opponent Villanova in a three-game series from March 27-29 at Villanova Ballpark.
The Mountaineers (16-5, 3-0) are scheduled to face the Wildcats (11-9, 0-3) beginning at 3:15 p.m. on Friday. They follow with 12:15 p.m. starts on both Saturday and Sunday.
WVU has outscored its opposition, 63-30, during its season-high winning streak. The Mountaineers are coming off a key 10-7 victory over Southeastern Conference opponent Kentucky at the Mountaineer Diamond Classic in Charleston, W.Va., and recently swept Connecticut in a three-game series in Storrs, Conn.
Scoring plenty of runs has been the staple for WVU all season, but the rise of the Mountaineer pitching staff has propelled its hot streak. Reliever Chris Enourato, who leads the BIG EAST with a 1.57 ERA and a 5-0 record, has made eight quality appearances that also includes three saves. The junior from Bridgeport, W.Va., earned a save over Kentucky to tie Mike Marz on the school’s all-time list with 14 career saves.
Joining Enourato are four pitchers who boast a sub-4.00 ERA in Jarryd Summers (2.87), Justin Ellis (2.91), Billy Gross (3.16) and Jonathan Jones (3.80). Ellis, a redshirt freshman from Pickerington, Ohio, earned his second victory of the year by tossing 5.2 innings of early relief against UK, giving up two earned runs with five strikeouts.
Summers, a likely starter against the Wildcats, has earned quality starts in his last three outings. The Sharpsville, Pa., native has struck out 37 batters in 31.1 innings pitched, and is holding opponents to a .223 average.
Gross has logged two consecutive complete games, notching victories over Siena and UConn to improve to 2-2. Jones, a freshman left-hander from Fredericksburg, Va., is 3-0 in four games started, giving up no earned runs in seven innings pitched in his last outing against the Huskies on March 21.
Going 9-1 over its last 10 games, the Mountaineers have rode an offense that shows a .384 batting average. Leading hitter Dan DiBartolomeo went 1-for-4 against UK to extend his hitting streak to 19 games. Cleanup batter Vince Belnome leads the BIG EAST with 38 RBIs, while catcher Tobias Streich, coming off a five-RBI performance, trails with 35 RBIs.
Villanova was swept by 2008 BIG EAST regular-season champion St. John’s over the weekend, but rebounded with a 5-1 victory over Lehigh on Tuesday evening. Prior to playing WVU this weekend, the Wildcats have one more contest against Ivy League member Penn on Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. in Philadelphia, Pa.
Freshman outfielder Matt Szczur and senior Matt McFolling lead Villanova with identical .397 batting averages. Szczur has one home run, 10 RBIs and 13 stolen bases on the season, while McFolling shows three home runs, 18 RBIs and 38 total bases.
Leading the Wildcats on the mound are pitchers Chris Pack and Kevin Crimmel. Pack, a junior right-hander, is first on the team with a 3.14 ERA in five games started. Junior left-hander Crimmel is 2-1 with a 3.33 ERA in four games started.
WVU did not play Villanova in 2008, but fell to the Wildcats in two of three games in 2007. The Mountaineers are 21-11 all-time against VU dating back to 1996.
