Baseball: WVU Swept in Doubleheader
March 12, 2010 09:54 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
March 12, 2010
GAME ONE BOX SCORE | GAME TWO BOX SCORE
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| Dom Hayes |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team fell in both games of a doubleheader to Manhattan on Friday evening at Hawley Field. WVU lost game one, 4-3, and fell in game two, 13-1.
The Mountaineers (4-9) were overly reliant on their pitching staff because of their low offense production in both games. Manhattan’s Mike Giordano (2-0) had a quality start against WVU in game one, and Tom Costigan (2-1) threw eight innings and gave up one run to get the victory in game two.
WVU produced 13 base hits combined, while the Jaspers (7-3) outslugged the Mountaineers with 19 base hits. Manhattan also struck out just nine times on the day, while WVU was rung up in 14 at-bats.
Junior right fielder Dom Hayes went 2-for-4 with an RBI in game one, and finished 2-for-3 in the second contest. The Freehold, N.J., native has posted five consecutive multi-hit games, and has gone 12-for-21 with two RBIs and two doubles during his torrid five-game stretch. He is WVU’s leading hitter with a .457 batting average.
Shortstop Jedd Gyorko also performed well at the plate, going 3-for-6 with two RBIs and a walk through two games. His run-scoring double to centerfield in game one put the Mountaineers on the scoreboard first with an early 1-0 lead.
Designated hitter Jeremy Gum provided some power for WVU in the first game, going 2-for-3 with one home run. In the fourth inning, Gum hammered an offering from Giordano over the right field wall for a solo round-tripper, the first of his career. In his next at-bat, he nearly recorded his second home run on a double to right center that scraped off the wall.
Starter Jarryd Summers (0-2) took the loss in his first complete game of the season in game one, giving up four runs on five hits with three strikeouts in the seven-inning affair. Four WVU pitchers were used in game two, as Andy Berry (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing six runs in 6.1 innings pitched.
The Mountaineers were stung in game one by missing their opportunities to score after leaving eight runners on base.
Freshman Matt Frazer ended his hitting streak at 10 games after going 0-for-3 in game one. The Alum Creek, W.Va., native stretched his streak of reaching base safely to 12 games before failing to get on base in WVU’s 13-1 defeat.
The Mountaineers were hurt by two run-scoring hits in the first game, as right fielder Mike McCann hit a two-out, two-run single to left field to put the Jaspers ahead at 2-1 in the third frame. Manhattan scored two more runs the following inning with two outs, as Ramon Ortega slapped a two-run single to centerfield to give the Jaspers a 4-1 lead.
WVU was done in by a four-run fifth inning and a six-run eighth inning from Manhattan in game two. Centerfielder Kevin Nieto and Mark Onorati recorded three hits apiece to lead a Jasper offense that also drew eight walks.
The Mountaineers return for game three of the four-game series on Saturday afternoon at Hawley Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Saturday's contest is also poster day, with all fans in attendance receiving a free 2010 WVU baseball schedule poster featuring Grant Buckner, Mark Dvoroznak, Andy Altemus and Colin Durborow.
