Baseball: WVU Hosts Cincinnati in Key Series
May 08, 2009 01:52 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
May 8, 2009
GAME NOTES
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| Joe Agreste and Justin Parks will be two of four seniors honored on Sunday.
Jason Roberts/PRISM/Freelantz Photography |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University baseball team plays its final conference home series of the season as it takes on Cincinnati on May 9-10 at Hawley Field.
Saturday features a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m., and has been deemed as “Through with Chew Day,” where the first 500 kids receive a free baseball. Sunday’s contest begins at 1 p.m. and is “Dollar Day,” with all tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and Coca-Colas available for purchase for just one dollar each. The contest is also Senior Day, as Justin Parks, Austin Markel, Joe Agreste and Bobby Thompson will be honored prior to the game.
"These are huge games for us," Coach Greg Van Zant said. "With this being our last homestand of the season, it should be an exciting weekend at the ballpark."
The Mountaineers (31-14, 13-8) won their fifth BIG EAST series of the season last weekend, taking two of three from Rutgers. WVU remains alone in fourth place in the conference standings, sitting one game behind St. John’s and trailing Louisville by 1 ½ games.
With six conference games remaining, WVU is looking to lock up home field advantage in the first round of the BIG EAST Championship by garnering a top-four seed. The last time WVU was the designated home team in the first round of the conference tournament was in 2003, when it finished the regular season 18-6 in BIG EAST play and was a No. 2 seed.
WVU is fourth in the country with a .356 batting average, according to the latest national rankings. It ranks No. 1 with 3.02 doubles per game, and is 12th nationally with 9.4 runs per game.
Sophomore Dan DiBartolomeo finished last weekend’s series 4-for-12 with two home runs, four RBIs and two doubles. He holds the third highest batting average in the conference, showing a team-best .417 while teammate Vince Belnome follows with a .410 average and a conference-leading 67 RBIs. The Coatesville, Pa., resident is just two hits shy of 200, a feat that he will likely accomplish in just three seasons.
Parks and Markel each have 195 career hits apiece. Both players have set career-highs in home runs and runs scored this season to help play a key role in WVU’s nationally-ranked offense, which continues to lead the BIG EAST in batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, runs scored and RBIs.
Mountaineer mainstays Jarryd Summers and Billy Gross are coming off effective performances in their last starts against Rutgers. Summers recorded his fourth double-digit strikeout effort of the season by fanning 10 Scarlet Knights while giving up just one earned run in 7.2 innings pitched to lead WVU to a 13-1 victory. Summers has struck out 79 batters in 76.2 frames, and has just over a 3:1 strikeout/walk ratio in 2009.
Gross recorded his third complete game of the year as he stymied the opposition by allowing eight hits on three runs while striking out three. The Frederick, Md., resident is now 6-4 with a 4.03 ERA.
Cincinnati has defeated WVU in its last five games, including four straight contests in 2008. The nation’s seventh-best hitter and the BIG EAST’s top batter in Lance Durham has guided the Bearcats (26-23, 11-10) with a .448 clip. UC also leads the conference with 60 home runs, as power hitter Mike Spina has hit roughly 1/3 of the team’s round trippers with 19.
On the mound, UC shows a 6.30 team ERA, with fifth-year senior reliever Jake Geglein leading the team with a 4-1 mark and a 3.16 ERA. The Bearcats are locked in a logjam with Notre Dame, Pitt, Connecticut and Seton Hall for fifth place, with all four teams separated by just one game.
"Cincinnati is a very talented team," Van Zant added. "They beat USF at home last weekend and will provide a big challenge for us."
WVU and Cincinnati are tied in their all-time series with 12 wins apiece. The Mountaineers follow with a one-game series against Youngstown State on Monday, May 11, at 7:05 p.m. at Hawley Field.
