Baseball: WVU Falls in Walk-Off Fashion
May 15, 2010 12:22 AM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
May 15, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University baseball team fell victim to a tie-breaking, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th to lose, 7-5, against Georgetown on Friday evening at Shirley Povich Field in Bethesda, Md.
Playing in its third extra-inning contest of the season, WVU fought back and pulled ahead by a 5-4 margin in the top of the 11th on a tie-breaking double by Jeremy Gum. Georgetown responded in the bottom half when Tommy Lee hit an RBI single with two outs, and Rand Ravnaas followed with a walk-off, two-run blast to centerfield.
The Mountaineers (22-27, 6-16) were forced to come back from two runs down in the top of the ninth, as junior Justin McDavid hit a game-tying two-run home run to right field with no outs. The blast was McDavid’s third home run of the year, knotting the game at 4-4. The Queen Creek, Ariz., native finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Junior Jedd Gyorko and Grant Buckner also finished with two hits apiece, as WVU produced 10 hits overall. Buckner’s single in the ninth inning extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
Starting right-hander Jarryd Summers had his second-longest outing of the season, throwing 7.2 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Senior reliever Chris Enourato (4-2) suffered the loss in the 11th inning.
Georgetown reliever Neal Dennison (4-3) got the win in relief, allowing one run in the final three innings.
Chris Rasky’s opposite-field double to left center plated McDavid to give the Mountaineers an early 1-0 lead in the second inning. McDavid led off with his 15th double of the season, then advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Gum.
An RBI groundout by Buckner scored Gyorko to add to WVU’s lead at 2-0. Gyorko singled to left field and moved to third base on a double down the left field line from Dom Hayes.
Consecutive two-run innings in the third and fourth frames put the Hoyas ahead at 4-2. With runners on second and third base, Lee grounded out the opposite way to drive in GU’s first run. Ravnaas then pulled a 1-2 offering from Summers and grounded out to McDavid at first base, scoring another run.
Georgetown took the lead in the fourth when Chip Malt doubled down the right field line, scoring two runs.
Tonight's game was delayed for nearly 1 1/2 hours due to inclement weather.
WVU returns for game two against Georgetown on Saturday evening at 7 p.m.
