Offense Powers West Virginia
April 08, 2010 12:00 AM | General
April 8, 2010
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The West Virginia University baseball team produced its best offensive performance of the season as it powered past rival Maryland, 20-9, on Wednesday evening at Shipley Field in College Park, Md.
WVU’s collective season highs in tonight’s contest are endless – 20 runs scored, 25 base hits, five home runs, eight doubles, 19 RBIs and 48 total bases. Several players established career highs in a contest that took nearly 4 ½ hours, as the Mountaineers (14-15) recorded the most single-game base hits since garnering a school-record 32 against New Jersey Tech on March 8, 2009.
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| Dom Hayes produced a career-best five hits tonight against Maryland.
photo courtesy of Dan Friend |
Junior shortstop Jedd Gyorko went 4-for-6 with two home runs, two doubles and a career-high six RBIs, surpassing his previous high of five that he has now accomplished five times. The Morgantown native hit a two-run blast down the left field line in the sixth inning to give WVU a 9-2 lead, then hit his second of the night and eighth of the season on a 3-0 offering to put the Mountaineers ahead comfortably.
Nine runs crossed the plate for WVU in the top of the ninth, ending any hope of a comeback by the Terrapins (12-19). The frame began when second baseman Brady Wilson hit his first career home run on a 2-1 pitch, followed by Gyorko’s solo blast. Junior Dom Hayes lifted a double to centerfield to plate Gyorko in the inning, and catcher Kevin Griffin also contributed with a run-scoring single through the left side.
“It is very encouraging for our team to play like they did tonight,” coach Greg Van Zant said. “We have a lot of youth in our lineup and tonight they stepped up to the challenge and beat a Maryland team that has some very good wins this season. Hopefully we can use this as momentum heading into the St. John’s series this weekend.”
Hayes had a career night against the Terrapins, going 5-for-7 with two RBIs and one run scored. Cleanup batter Chris Rasky, a redshirt freshman making just his third career start, hit his first two career home runs and finished 3-for-6 with three RBIs . His solo home run jumpstarted WVU’s six-run second inning, and he hammered an 0-2 offering from Maryland reliever Richard Landa in the eighth inning.
Wilson added to WVU’s offensive outburst by going 4-for-4 with his first career home run, one double, three RBIs and three runs scored.
“I think Brady boosted his confidence tremendously tonight,” Van Zant added. “He is a good ballplayer and showed some of the things that he can do for us.”
Also producing multiple hit games were Matt Malloy (2-for-6), Justin McDavid (2-for-4), Mark Dvoroznak (2-for-5) and Griffin (2-for-6). McDavid and Griffin added two RBIs apiece, while Colin Durborow added one hit to round out WVU’s starting nine.
WVU broke open with six runs in the second inning off Maryland starter Blair Delean (1-1). Rasky’s leadoff home run was followed by Griffin’s run-scoring double to plate Durborow. Wilson then laced an RBI double to left center on an 0-2 pitch, making it 3-0.
Gyorko then stepped to the plate and hit a two-run double to pad WVU’s lead to 6-0. His subsequent two-bagger was his team-leading 13th of the season. After Dvoroznak hit a single through the left side, Wilson swung on the first pitch and hit another run-scoring single to right field.
In the eighth, Dvoroznak’s sacrifice fly to centerfield gave the Mountaineers a commanding 11-4 advantage.
Freshman left-hander Michael Twigg (1-0), a Berkeley Springs, W.Va., resident, earned his first win as a Mountaineer after tossing 6.2 innings and giving up four runs on five hits with six strikeouts.
“Mike was definitely the star of the day amongst all the hitting,” Van Zant added. “It was his first career start and he was on the road against an ACC opponent. He pitched well and threw a lot of strikes. To go out and pitch like that was exceptional. We had to take him out because his pitch count was getting high in the seventh, but he held down Maryland tonight and pitched tremendously in key situations.”
Maryland used eight pitchers on the evening, with seven giving up at least one run. The lone hurler to go unscathed was Charlie Haslup, who gave up two hits and allowed no runs in two innings.
Tonight's victory is the first time WVU has defeated UM in College Park since winning, 4-2, in 1994. WVU's 6-3 win against the Terrapins in 2004 was at Frederick, Md.
WVU heads to Queens, N.Y., to take on St. John’s this weekend in a BIG EAST road series. Game one begins on Friday, April 9, at 3 p.m.
