Baseball: WVU Faces Bowling Green
March 22, 2010 05:28 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
March 22, 2010
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| Dom Hayes |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team travels to Chillicothe, Ohio, for a non-conference contest against Bowling Green on Tuesday, March 23, at V.A. Memorial stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The Mountaineers (10-10) will be designated as the home team for Tuesday’s contest. They finished their first homestand of the season at 7-3, compiling a 5-1 record last week against Niagara and Eastern Michigan.
“Every mid-week game, and every game in general, is important,” coach Greg Van Zant said. “Our team is looking forward to playing another good Mid-American Conference school, and we’ve got the luxury of playing at a nice venue that hosts the MAC Tournament. We’re ready for another challenging non-conference opponent before we start our BIG EAST season.”
WVU is 1-2 all-time versus Bowling Green in a series that began in 2000. In that season, both teams split a two-game series, with the Mountaineers winning 8-1 and falling 12-5. Both teams last met in 2001.
Redshirt junior Colin Durborow raised his batting average by 88 points last week after going 8-for-15 with five RBIs and six runs scored in six games. The second baseman also hit his first three career home runs last week, including two against Niagara in a doubleheader on Tuesday.
WVU has reached the .500 mark for the second time this season, winning six of its last seven contests. Junior shortstop Jedd Gyorko aided the Mountaineer offense in Sunday’s 13-6 rout over Eastern Michigan, tying a career high with five RBIs while hitting a seventh-inning grand slam. WVU also produced 18 base hits, its second highest total this season.
Gyorko leads WVU with six home runs and 20 RBIs. Junior Dom Hayes continues to hit at a torrid pace, batting .458 in 20 games played. Hayes has the third-highest average among all BIG EAST players.
The Mountaineers are 4-0 in mid-week games this year, defeating Bryant, Purdue and sweeping Niagara. Sophomore left-hander Jonathan Jones started in two of those games and earned a victory last week against the Purple Eagles, allowing one run on three hits with seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched.
The Falcons (6-7-1) have held up against a difficult non-conference schedule that included three-game series against nationally-ranked Kentucky and Louisville. They were swept by both teams but had several close affairs, and are riding a three-game winning streak after sweeping future WVU opponent Eastern Kentucky last week.
Bowling Green also tied Yale on March 11, as rain stopped play after the fifth inning in what was registered as an official game at 5-5.
The Falcons will start sophomore left-hander Patrick Martin (1-0), who shows a 3.00 ERA in five appearances. Martin will be making his first start of the season, and has struck out six batters and given up two home runs in nine innings pitched.
Senior outfielder T.J. Blanton leads the Bowling Green offense with a .460 batting average through 14 games played. Blanton is first on the team with five home runs, 16 RBIs, 45 total bases and a .900 slugging percentage.
The Falcons have four other players with double-digit RBI totals, including senior outfielder Dennis Vaughn (13), senior infielder Logan Meisler (12), junior catcher Ryan Schlater (12) and senior Tyler Elkins (10).
