Baseball: WVU Travels to Duquesne
April 20, 2010 12:49 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
April 20, 2010
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| Dom Hayes |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the 79th time in school history, the West Virginia University baseball team will face nearby Atlantic-10 opponent Duquesne on Wednesday, April 21, at 4 p.m. at Duquesne Baseball Field in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Mountaineers (16-20, 3-9) own a six-game winning streak against the Dukes (7-29, 3-9), and hold a 70-8 series advantage. Over the course of the series, WVU has held win streaks of 27 games (1990-2007) as well as 21 games (1984-90).
“This is another important mid-week game for our ballclub,” 16th-year coach Greg Van Zant said. “We definitely had to earn our wins against Duquesne last season, and I expect things to be no different when we travel up there Wednesday.”
WVU finished 1-3 last week, earning its lone win against Eastern Kentucky at the Mountaineer Diamond Classic in Charleston, W.Va. Junior Dom Hayes, who is fifth in the BIG EAST with a .415 batting average, had a team-high eight hits last week with three doubles, one triple and 13 total bases.
Hayes, a Freehold, N.J., native, has excelled in WVU’s last two mid-week road games. He went 8-for-12 with three doubles, six RBIs and two runs scored in two victories at Maryland (20-9) and Bowling Green (10-7), which includes the team’s only five-hit performance of the season against the Terrapins on April 7.
Junior catcher Kevin Griffin, who is beginning to assume the everyday role behind the plate, finished 5-for-15 last week, hitting his first career home run off Louisville closer Neil Holland. The Martinsburg native also threw out four of nine base runners attempting to steal.
Junior Justin McDavid owns a team-best 12-game hitting streak entering Wednesday’s matchup. McDavid finished with three multiple-hit games last week, and is batting .302 with 29 RBIs. Jedd Gyorko continues to lead WVU with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs.
Although no probables have been listed, freshman left-hander Michael Twigg has made two consecutive starts for WVU in mid-week games. He struck out four in five innings pitched on April 13 against EKU, and earned his first career win at Maryland after allowing four runs on five hits with six strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
WVU is 13-11 in non-conference play this season, batting .313 compared to its .295 overall average. Redshirt junior Colin Durborow has been stellar in 24 non-conference games this season, batting .299 with four home runs and 16 RBIs.
Junior Andrew Heck leads the Dukes with a .385 average, and has seven home runs and 28 RBIs. Senior Mark Tracy is batting .302 and leads the team with 10 home runs and 32 RBIs.
Duquesne has played several difficult opponents this season, including South Carolina, Kansas State, Central Florida, Ohio State, George Mason and Pitt. The Dukes own one conference series victory at La Salle on April 1-3, winning two of three games.
