Baseball: WVU Falls to St. John's
April 09, 2010 07:33 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
April 9, 2010
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| Justin McDavid |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team could not feed off its recent offensive performance as it fell to conference opponent St. John’s, 11-3, on Friday afternoon at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, N.Y.
After taking a brief 1-0 lead in the second inning, the Mountaineers (14-16, 2-5) allowed St. John’s to score five unanswered runs over the next two frames. WVU opened the scoring when Red Storm first baseman Sean O’Hare muffed a throw by third baseman Greg Hopkins, allowing Kevin Griffin to reach base and Justin McDavid to score.
Over the next two innings, the Red Storm (17-10, 4-3) capitalized on three errors by WVU. Freshman Jeremy Baltz reached on a fielder’s choice and an error, allowing Scott Ferrara to score after he led off with a single. With the bases loaded, Greg Hopkins reached on another fielder’s choice in which second baseman Brady Wilson recorded an error, bringing in two more runs. O’Hare capped the frame with an RBI single to right center to extend St. John’s lead to 5-1.
WVU responded in the fifth inning with two runs to make it 5-3. Jedd Gyorko, who earlier recorded a double, led off with a walk and then stole second base with two outs. After Chris Rasky walked, McDavid hit a two-run double down the right field line, his team-leading ninth multiple RBI game of the season.
The Mountaineers were unable to produce any more offense while St. John’s scored six more runs over the final four innings. Baltz led the Red Storm with three hits and three RBIs, including a solo home run in the fifth and an RBI double in the eighth.
WVU recorded five base hits this afternoon, with Matt Malloy leading the team with a 2-for-3 performance. Centerfielder Mark Dvoroznak had one of three extra-base hits for WVU, hitting his fourth double of the season in the eighth inning.
WVU’s five errors, which led to four unearned runs, are its most this season. St. John’s compiled 13 hits off starter Jarryd Summers (1-5) and reliever Jonathan Jones.
Summers took the loss after giving up six earned runs on eight hits with six strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched. Jones allowed one earned run in 1.2 innings.
St. John’s starter Bruce Kern (5-2) got the victory after striking out 12 and allowing four hits and three runs in seven innings pitched. Relievers Kevin Kilpatrick and Ryan Cole pitched the final two innings without allowing a run.
WVU returns for game two against St. John’s on Saturday, April 10, at 1 p.m. at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
