Baseball: WVU Opens 2011 Season
February 17, 2011 01:44 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team opens its 2011 season at the third annual BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge, hosted by the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission, on Friday, Feb. 18, against Iowa, at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium, in Clearwater, Fla., at 10 a.m.
The Mountaineers will face Penn State on Feb. 19, also at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium, at 1 p.m., and Illinois on Feb. 20, at Al Lang/Progressive Energy Park, in St. Petersburg, Fla., at 1 p.m. Sunday’s game will be shown on a live webcast on CollegeBaseball360.com.
“The team is ready to go,” says coach Greg Van Zant. “We have had three great weeks of practice, and we’re looking to start off the season with a win at the Challenge. Ideally, we would like to get a win over Iowa and build off that game. It’s always great to get that first win, and the sooner the better.”
The Mountaineers and the Hawkeyes meet for the second straight season in the Challenge, and for only the second time in program history. WVU defeated Iowa, 9-5, last year.
WVU and PSU meet on Saturday for the first time since 2006, when the Mountaineers defeated the Nittany Lions, 5-4 (10 innings), at the Keith LeClair Tournament in Greenville, N.C. The two teams have met 103 times since 1904, and PSU owns a 62-41 series advantage.
The Mountaineers earned their first victory over Illinois last season, an 11-8 decision in Greenville, N.C., on March 7. Prior to the win, WVU lost to the Fighting Illini, 10-7, in the 2009 Challenge. Illinois owns a 6-1 series advantage.
WVU, picked ninth in the BIG EAST preseason coaches’ poll, has 11 returning letterwinners. Tops among the returnees is redshirt-senior shortstop Grant Buckner. An Elkview, W.Va., native, Buckner was selected to the preseason all-BIG EAST team. Assuming the position left vacant by All-American Jedd Gyorko, Buckner had a .363 batting average in 53 games last season. He also tallied 73 hits, 37 runs, eight home runs and 50 RBIs.
The Mountaineers enter the season in search of a solid pitching rotation. With the departure of 2010 starters Jarryd Summers and Eric Hinkle, as well as reliable reliever Andy Altemus and closer Chris Enourato, Van Zant turns to a bullpen, which features veterans and rookies to guide the squad from the mound.
Junior left-handed pitcher Jonathan Jones is expected to get the starting nod against the Hawkeyes. A Fredericksburg, Va., native, Jones started six games last season and finished with a 2-1 record and a 6.62 ERA.
Also in the mix are left-handers Harrison Musgrave and Michael Twigg, and right-hander Andy Berry.
Van Zant boasts a 477-392-1 (.549) record heading into his 17th season with the Mountaineers.
Iowa returns 21 letterwinners, seven starters and 10 pitchers, from a 2010 squad that went 30-28, 13-11 in the Big Ten and finished second in the conference tournament.
Despite going 22-30 last season, Penn State had three players – Joe DeBernardis, Heath Johnson and Jordan Steranka, named to the 2011 Big Ten Baseball Players to Watch List.
The Fighting Illini are coming off a 2010 campaign which saw the team go 26-26. The squad returns four starters in the field and 12 pitchers.
The Mountaineers went 3-2 against Big Ten opponents last season. In addition to their victories over the Fighting Illini and the Hawkeyes, WVU lost, 10-8, to Indiana in the Challenge’s first game and 17-5 to Michigan State in the closer, and defeated Purdue, 18-14, in a non-Challenge match-up.
All-time, WVU is 3-4 in the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge.
The Challenge consists of eight teams from each conference. Connecticut, Cincinnati, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pitt, St. John’s, Seton Hall and WVU will represent the BIG EAST, while the Big Ten will be represented by Iowa, PSU, Minnesota, Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue.
BIG EAST baseball returns to Clearwater at the end of the regular season for the 2011 BIG EAST Championship at Bright House Field, May 25-29.
The Mountaineers will face Penn State on Feb. 19, also at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium, at 1 p.m., and Illinois on Feb. 20, at Al Lang/Progressive Energy Park, in St. Petersburg, Fla., at 1 p.m. Sunday’s game will be shown on a live webcast on CollegeBaseball360.com.
“The team is ready to go,” says coach Greg Van Zant. “We have had three great weeks of practice, and we’re looking to start off the season with a win at the Challenge. Ideally, we would like to get a win over Iowa and build off that game. It’s always great to get that first win, and the sooner the better.”
The Mountaineers and the Hawkeyes meet for the second straight season in the Challenge, and for only the second time in program history. WVU defeated Iowa, 9-5, last year.
WVU and PSU meet on Saturday for the first time since 2006, when the Mountaineers defeated the Nittany Lions, 5-4 (10 innings), at the Keith LeClair Tournament in Greenville, N.C. The two teams have met 103 times since 1904, and PSU owns a 62-41 series advantage.
The Mountaineers earned their first victory over Illinois last season, an 11-8 decision in Greenville, N.C., on March 7. Prior to the win, WVU lost to the Fighting Illini, 10-7, in the 2009 Challenge. Illinois owns a 6-1 series advantage.
WVU, picked ninth in the BIG EAST preseason coaches’ poll, has 11 returning letterwinners. Tops among the returnees is redshirt-senior shortstop Grant Buckner. An Elkview, W.Va., native, Buckner was selected to the preseason all-BIG EAST team. Assuming the position left vacant by All-American Jedd Gyorko, Buckner had a .363 batting average in 53 games last season. He also tallied 73 hits, 37 runs, eight home runs and 50 RBIs.
The Mountaineers enter the season in search of a solid pitching rotation. With the departure of 2010 starters Jarryd Summers and Eric Hinkle, as well as reliable reliever Andy Altemus and closer Chris Enourato, Van Zant turns to a bullpen, which features veterans and rookies to guide the squad from the mound.
Junior left-handed pitcher Jonathan Jones is expected to get the starting nod against the Hawkeyes. A Fredericksburg, Va., native, Jones started six games last season and finished with a 2-1 record and a 6.62 ERA.
Also in the mix are left-handers Harrison Musgrave and Michael Twigg, and right-hander Andy Berry.
Van Zant boasts a 477-392-1 (.549) record heading into his 17th season with the Mountaineers.
Iowa returns 21 letterwinners, seven starters and 10 pitchers, from a 2010 squad that went 30-28, 13-11 in the Big Ten and finished second in the conference tournament.
Despite going 22-30 last season, Penn State had three players – Joe DeBernardis, Heath Johnson and Jordan Steranka, named to the 2011 Big Ten Baseball Players to Watch List.
The Fighting Illini are coming off a 2010 campaign which saw the team go 26-26. The squad returns four starters in the field and 12 pitchers.
The Mountaineers went 3-2 against Big Ten opponents last season. In addition to their victories over the Fighting Illini and the Hawkeyes, WVU lost, 10-8, to Indiana in the Challenge’s first game and 17-5 to Michigan State in the closer, and defeated Purdue, 18-14, in a non-Challenge match-up.
All-time, WVU is 3-4 in the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge.
The Challenge consists of eight teams from each conference. Connecticut, Cincinnati, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pitt, St. John’s, Seton Hall and WVU will represent the BIG EAST, while the Big Ten will be represented by Iowa, PSU, Minnesota, Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue.
BIG EAST baseball returns to Clearwater at the end of the regular season for the 2011 BIG EAST Championship at Bright House Field, May 25-29.
Alumni Series | Violet Hewett
Friday, May 01
SWIM: What it Means to Represent West Virginia
Wednesday, April 29
SWIM: What it Means to Become a Mountaineer
Wednesday, April 29
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
