Baseball: WVU Battles No. 12 Louisville
April 15, 2010 12:46 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
April 15, 2010
LOUISVILLE GAME NOTES
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| Matt Frazer |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – This weekend features several enticing promotions for the West Virginia University baseball team at Hawley Field. Not to mention, 12th-ranked Louisville comes to Morgantown carrying a 26-6 record.
WVU faces UofL beginning this Friday at 7:05 p.m. The event is the first “Dollar Night” of the season, with all tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and Coca-Colas available for purchase for just one dollar each. Saturday’s contest begins at 3 p.m. and promotes Alumni Weekend, with former Mountaineers in attendance being recognized during the game. The three-game set ends on “Youth League Sunday” with a 1 p.m. start, as any youth baseball players wearing their game jersey will receive $1 admission.
“Louisville is one of the better programs in college baseball,” coach Greg Van Zant said. “They have a wealth of talent and can hit, field and pitch as well as anyone in the BIG EAST. We certainly have another challenge this weekend, but our team is excited for the opportunity to play another nationally-ranked opponent.”
The Mountaineers (16-17, 3-6) have won two straight, including a 13-11 victory over Eastern Kentucky in front of 1,289 fans in Charleston on Tuesday night. WVU has combined to score 30 runs over its last three games, and had six players who finished with multiple-hit games against the Colonels in its last contest.
WVU’s offensive groove has lifted its team batting average to .293. In his last two games, freshman Matt Frazer has gone 6-for-8 with one home run, two doubles and three runs scored. The Alum Creek native made a celebrated home debut against Eastern Kentucky and began the event with his first career home run, a solo shot to right field.
Jedd Gyorko earned national honors this week, being named to the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week Team. The Morgantown resident had another solid performance this week, going 2-for-4 with a triple, double and an RBI. He also recorded five assists at shortstop.
Gyorko joins redshirt juniors Mark Dvoroznak, Grant Buckner, Colin Durborow, junior Dan DiBartolomeo and redshirt sophomore Justin Ellis as the only position players who were on the roster in 2008, the last time WVU and Louisville met. Gyorko finished 4-for-13 with one run scored as a freshman in that series, which took place in Morgantown.
Senior reliever Andy Altemus has played a hand in WVU’s last two victories. Against St. John’s last Sunday, the right-hander pitched the final 3.1 innings to get the win, then shut down EKU in the final 2.1 frames on Tuesday to get his third victory of the season. Altemus has made 19 appearances this season and is just five short of breaking the single-season school record held by Ashley Shope in 1995. He is also just one appearance shy of tying teammate Chris Enourato for third on the single-season list.
Two junior college transfers in Justin McDavid and Dom Hayes continue to impress this year. McDavid currently holds a nine-game hitting streak, a six-game RBI streak and has driven in at least one run in 17 of his 24 starts.
Hayes continues to excel at the dish, batting a team-high .415 with 18 RBIs and 13 doubles.
The Cardinals (26-6, 6-3) have one of the country’s best résumés, going 5-0 against the Big Ten (1-0 vs. Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota; 2-0 vs. Indiana), taking two of three at then-No. 17 Mississippi and owning a series victory against 25th-ranked Connecticut. UofL also defeated No. 19 Western Kentucky, 7-6, on Wednesday evening.
UofL has a 3.92 team ERA, led by hard-throwing closer, Neil Holland. Holland is 5-0 with a 1.09 ERA, and has 35 strikeouts compared to just seven walks. Right-hander Thomas Royse is slated to start on Friday night, and is 6-1 with a 2.84 ERA. Junior left-hander Dean Kiekhefer, expected to start Saturday, is 3-2 with a 4.09 ERA. Sunday starter Gabriel Shaw, a righty, is 3-0 with a 2.74 ERA.
Senior infielder Adam Duvall is batting .367 with nine home runs, 26 RBIs, 16 doubles and 37 runs scored. Junior Phil Wunderlich leads the Cardinals with 11 home runs, while sophomore Ryan Wright is hitting .354 with a team-leading 36 RBIs. First baseman Andrew Clark also has seven home runs and 27 RBIs.
Louisville lost two of three games last week at 24th-ranked Pitt, and is 6-4 on the road this season.
All three games this weekend will air on WAJR, with Kyle Wiggs on the call.
