McDavid's Double Sweeps Notre Dame
May 09, 2010 05:51 PM | General
May 9, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Junior Justin McDavid may have had his 21-game hitting streak end last night, but his three-run double in the eighth inning helped the West Virginia University baseball team to a 10-3 victory and a series sweep over Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon at Hawley Field.
With two outs and the bases loaded, McDavid swung on a first-pitch fastball from reliever Steven Mazur and belted a base-clearing two-bagger over the head of centerfielder Brayden Ashdown. The extra-base hit highlighted a crucial six-run inning that allowed the Mountaineers (21-26, 6-15) to break away from a slim 4-3 lead.
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| Justin McDavid's three-run double in the eighth inning provided several insurance runs.
WVU Photographic Services |
Redshirt junior Colin Durborow began the scoring with a key RBI single to right field on a 1-2 pitch to plate pinch runner Brady Wilson, making it 5-3. Mark Dvoroznak then jammed a shot to shortstop Mick Doyle that resulted in an RBI groundout, and Jedd Gyorko was intentionally walked for the second time. Two batters later, Grant Buckner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded before McDavid’s hit.
McDavid finished 2-for-5 with a game-high four RBIs, which also ties his career-high that he set on April 27 against Duquesne.
“It was a total team effort today, and a huge weekend for our ballclub,” coach Greg Van Zant said. “We had guys that came up big when they needed to. Colin Durborow battled on a pitcher’s count to provide us with a real big hit, and Justin McDavid’s double really broke the game open.”
Buckner made himself a national player-of-the-week candidate after having one of the best offensive performances over a three-game span in school history. Against the Fighting Irish (20-27, 8-13) this weekend, the Elkview resident finished 8-for-12 with four home runs, 14 RBIs, two doubles, seven runs scored and 21 total bases. In today’s contest, Buckner singled in the first inning and connected for his eighth home run of the season in the third frame, a solo shot to left field that put WVU ahead 2-0.
Buckner finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored on the afternoon. He now owns a 14-game hitting streak, the second-highest by a Mountaineer this season.
Redshirt freshman Chris Rasky hit his fifth home run of the season in the fourth inning, swinging on a first-pitch fastball from starter Eric Maust (0-5) and driving it over the centerfield wall for a two-run round-tripper. The Irwin, Pa., native went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Gyorko began the game with a leadoff double to right center in the bottom of the first. The hit was Gyorko’s 66th double of his career, passing former Mountaineer great Tyler Kuhn for first-place on the school’s all-time list. The Morgantown native went 1-for-3 with two intentional passes, giving him eight for the season.
WVU produced 13 base hits this afternoon, and tallied 44 hits during the three-game set to complete its first series sweep over the Fighting Irish since 1996. The Mountaineers also hit 10 home runs against Notre Dame, with six different players contributing to the cause. The Mountaineers are now batting .307 as a team, equaling their season high.
WVU’s 10 home runs are also its most in a BIG EAST three-game set since hitting 10 against Seton Hall on May 7-8, 2005, at Hawley Field.
For the second time in the series, every WVU starting position player had at least one hit. Durborow finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, Jeremy Gum and Kevin Griffin each recorded doubles and Dvoroznak finished 1-for-4 with one RBI.
Starter Andy Altemus (4-5) earned the win in relief as he tied the single-season school record with his 23rd appearance, sitting alongside former Mountaineer Ashley Shope. Altemus gave up one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts in six innings pitched. In the fifth inning, he surrendered a leadoff home run to Ryan Connolly, but stayed aggressive against the Irish hitters and allowed his defense to make plays despite being hurt by four errors.
“Andy always competes. He’s a real tough kid,” Van Zant added. “He’s always willing to go out there and pitch for us on any day, and did an excellent job today of working out of jams and staying with his pitches.”
Notre Dame reached base in all six innings against Altemus, but was unable to seize some of its run-scoring opportunities as Altemus effectively worked out of jams by going after batters.
With the sweep, WVU is just two games behind Notre Dame for the eighth-place spot in the conference standings. The top eight teams of the 12-team league qualify for the BIG EAST Championship that takes place on March 26-30 at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla. WVU has two remaining conference opponents in Georgetown and Villanova.
The Mountaineers return to Hawley Field for their final home non-conference series against Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference opponent Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday, May 11, at 7:05 p.m. Both teams will also square off on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.
