Baseball: WVU Battles Rutgers
April 30, 2009 07:02 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
April 30, 2009
GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University baseball team plays host to Rutgers in a key BIG EAST three-game set this weekend at Hawley Field.
First pitch is set for Friday, May 1, at 7:05 p.m. The game is designated as “Dollar Night,” with all tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and Coca-Colas available for $1 each. Saturday’s game begins at 3 p.m., followed by a Sunday contest at 1 p.m.
“WVU and Rutgers have been rivals for a long time, going back to our Atlantic 10 days,” Coach Greg Van Zant said. “They’ve had a lot of great teams, and our games have typically been hard-fought and highly competitive. We are looking forward to playing some more conference games at home.”
The Mountaineers (29-13, 11-7) are currently 1-1 in the beginning of their nine-game homestand. On Tuesday, WVU defeated Morehead State, 8-1, in a rain-shortened contest, then fell to rival Maryland, 8-7, on Wednesday evening.
WVU is searching for its first conference victory since defeating Notre Dame, 19-3, on April 17 in South Bend, Ind. The Mountaineers are 5-1 at home in BIG EAST play, winning two of three from St. John’s and sweeping Georgetown, 3-0.
Junior Vince Belnome continues his All-American caliber season, hitting .412 with six home runs and a conference-leading 62 RBIs. The junior from Coatesville, Pa., went 2-for-5 with one RBI against Maryland, and added two more hits against Morehead State.
Sophomore Dan DiBartolomeo continues to bat well above .400, showing a .424 average with four home runs and 39 RBIs. Shortstop Jedd Gyorko, who was recently named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, belted a solo home run against Maryland to help raise his mark to .384 with five home runs and 37 RBIs.
WVU is averaging 9.3 runs per game, putting it at 11th in the nation. The Mountaineers are also batting .355 as a team, and are slugging at a conference-best .560 clip.
Right-hander Jarryd Summers, who was named to the inaugural watch list for the Pitcher of the Year Award on Wednesday, anchors the starting rotation. The Sharpsville, Pa., native leads the BIG EAST by holding opponents to a .236 average, and carries a solid 3.00 ERA into Friday night’s contest.
In 2008, the Mountaineers traveled to Piscataway, N.J., and lost to Rutgers in two of three games. WVU was able to salvage its final game of the three-game set, defeating the Scarlet Knights (17-26, 4-14), 8-7, in 10 innings.
Rutgers makes its first road trip to Morgantown since 2005, when WVU won two of three games. Sophomore Michael Lang is hitting a team-best .349 with seven home runs, while sophomore Pat Biserta shows a .345 mark with four home runs and 14 doubles.
