Baseball: Late Runs Lead Towson Past WVU
April 06, 2010 07:59 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
April 6, 2010
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| Colin Durborow |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Four runs by Towson in the top of the ninth were too much for the West Virginia University baseball team to overcome as it fell, 10-4, on Tuesday afternoon at Hawley Field.
The Mountaineers (13-15) sat comfortably with an early four-run lead but could not muster any more runs between the second and ninth innings. The Tigers (9-20) produced a pair of four-run innings in the sixth and ninth, highlighted by a two-run double from Chris Wychock that proved to be the game-winning hit as it put Towson ahead, 6-4.
Towson was an instant scoring threat in the ninth after its first two batters reached base on a walk and single. After designated hitter Steve Rice fouled out to third baseman Colin Durborow, reliever Chris Enourato intentionally walked Eric Weller to load the bases with one out. Andrew Parker added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly to left field, centerfielder Ben Winter followed with an RBI double to left field and Nick Natoli sealed the game with a key two-run single to left field, making it 10-4.
Five of WVU’s seven base hits were from the middle of its lineup, as redshirt freshman Chris Rasky and redshirt junior Durborow led the team with two hits apiece. Durborow, batting sixth, went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, including his fourth home run of the season. Rasky also went 2-for-4 with a double, and No. 5 hitter Justin McDavid recorded his team-leading seventh multiple RBI game after driving in two runs on the afternoon.
WVU scored four runs on four hits to take a 4-0 lead in the first inning. With two outs, McDavid hit a two-run single through the right side to plate Dom Hayes and Matt Malloy. Durborow followed with a line-drive round-tripper, a two-run shot down the left field line.
Hayes began the frame with an infield single to second baseman Wychock, allowing the Freehold, N.J., native to reach base safely in 26 of 28 games this season. Hayes leads the team with a .482 on-base percentage.
Towson chipped away with one run in the third inning. Leadoff batter Winter hit a hustling triple down the right field line, and Natoli followed with an RBI groundout to third baseman Durborow to make it 4-1. After allowing a single to Kevin Collins, WVU starter Andy Berry struck out Wychock and induced a flyout to Kurt Wertz to end the inning.
Berry finished the afternoon with a no decision, allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts in three innings pitched. He now has 31 strikeouts in 37.1 innings pitched.
Natoli led off the fifth with a single to left field, then advanced to third base on a single by Collins. Wychock then hit a run-scoring single to left field to trim Towson’s deficit to 4-2. An RBI groundout by Winter and a run-scoring double to centerfield by Natoli in the sixth knotted the game at 4-4.
Mountaineer reliever Andy Altemus (1-3) took the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits in 2.2 innings pitched. Towson reliever Sean Betrand (1-0) earned the win and combined with pitcher Wes Shifflett to throw five shutout innings of relief. Shifflett earned his first save of the season.
WVU goes on a five-game hiatus away from Hawley Field, beginning with a matchup against Atlantic Coast Conference rival Maryland on Wednesday, April 7, at College Park, Md. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
