Baseball: WVU Falls to Seton Hall
April 22, 2011 10:41 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team was defeated by Seton Hall, 5-3, on a dreary Friday evening at Hawley Field.
The Mountaineers (23-16, 9-5) scored three runs on six hits, while committing two costly errors. Seton Hall (17-18, 6-8) scored five runs on nine hits with one error.
The two starting pitchers dueled for most of most of the game, with West Virginia’s Marshall Thompson (4-1) taking the loss in 6.2 innings of work, allowing eight hits and three earned runs. Seton Hall’s Joe DiRocco (5-0) went seven innings, allowing just two earned runs on six hits and striking out five. Mike Genovese came on in the ninth inning and earned his first save of the season.
Redshirt senior Mark Dvoroznak led the Mountaineers offense with a 2-for-3 performance and one run scored. Dale Anderson and Sean Gusrang each recorded two hits for Seton Hall, with Genovese driving in two runs.
After back-to-back singles from Anderson and Gusrang to begin the fourth inning for Seton Hall, Giuseppe Papaccio laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to advance both players into scoring position. Anderson scored during the next at bat when Genovese grounded out to third.
The Mountaineers answered in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game at 1-1. Redshirt senior Jeremy Gum singled to right center to lead off the inning and was sacrificed over by sophomore Chris Rasky. Sophomore Matt Malloy then came up with two outs and hit a ball to the left side that Seton Hall’s third baseman Papaccio bobbled into the outfield, allowing Gum to score from second on the error.
The Pirates extended the lead to 5-1 with one run in the top of fifth, two in the top of the sixth and one in the top of the seventh. Buckner bobbled a ball hit by Zack Granite that scored Frank Esposito from second in the fifth. In the sixth, Papaccio reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Anderson who led off the inning with a single up the middle, while Gusrang scored later in the inning on a Genovese ground out. Granite scored Seton Hall’s fifth run of the game in the seventh when he scored from first on a double hit by A.J. Rusbarsky to left field.
West Virginia was able to cut the deficit to 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman Isac Franklin and Dvoroznak began the inning with back-to-back singles up the middle. Sophomore Brady Wilson then advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, while senior Justin McDavid grounded out to shortstop, scoring Franklin. Redshirt senior Grant Buckner drove in the final run of the inning with a double to right field, scoring Dvoroznak. The double extends Grant Buckner’s hitting streak to 18 games. This is now the third time in his career that Buckner has reached an 18 game hitting streak.
The two squads will return to action tomorrow for the series finale at 1 p.m., with the game designated as “Through with Chew Ball Day,” where the first 500 kids will receive a free baseball. The game can be heard in Morgantown on WAJR AM-1440 and also on MSNsportsNET.com.
The Mountaineers (23-16, 9-5) scored three runs on six hits, while committing two costly errors. Seton Hall (17-18, 6-8) scored five runs on nine hits with one error.
The two starting pitchers dueled for most of most of the game, with West Virginia’s Marshall Thompson (4-1) taking the loss in 6.2 innings of work, allowing eight hits and three earned runs. Seton Hall’s Joe DiRocco (5-0) went seven innings, allowing just two earned runs on six hits and striking out five. Mike Genovese came on in the ninth inning and earned his first save of the season.
Redshirt senior Mark Dvoroznak led the Mountaineers offense with a 2-for-3 performance and one run scored. Dale Anderson and Sean Gusrang each recorded two hits for Seton Hall, with Genovese driving in two runs.
After back-to-back singles from Anderson and Gusrang to begin the fourth inning for Seton Hall, Giuseppe Papaccio laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to advance both players into scoring position. Anderson scored during the next at bat when Genovese grounded out to third.
The Mountaineers answered in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game at 1-1. Redshirt senior Jeremy Gum singled to right center to lead off the inning and was sacrificed over by sophomore Chris Rasky. Sophomore Matt Malloy then came up with two outs and hit a ball to the left side that Seton Hall’s third baseman Papaccio bobbled into the outfield, allowing Gum to score from second on the error.
The Pirates extended the lead to 5-1 with one run in the top of fifth, two in the top of the sixth and one in the top of the seventh. Buckner bobbled a ball hit by Zack Granite that scored Frank Esposito from second in the fifth. In the sixth, Papaccio reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Anderson who led off the inning with a single up the middle, while Gusrang scored later in the inning on a Genovese ground out. Granite scored Seton Hall’s fifth run of the game in the seventh when he scored from first on a double hit by A.J. Rusbarsky to left field.
West Virginia was able to cut the deficit to 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman Isac Franklin and Dvoroznak began the inning with back-to-back singles up the middle. Sophomore Brady Wilson then advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, while senior Justin McDavid grounded out to shortstop, scoring Franklin. Redshirt senior Grant Buckner drove in the final run of the inning with a double to right field, scoring Dvoroznak. The double extends Grant Buckner’s hitting streak to 18 games. This is now the third time in his career that Buckner has reached an 18 game hitting streak.
The two squads will return to action tomorrow for the series finale at 1 p.m., with the game designated as “Through with Chew Ball Day,” where the first 500 kids will receive a free baseball. The game can be heard in Morgantown on WAJR AM-1440 and also on MSNsportsNET.com.
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