MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team begins a five-game homestand with a midweek series vs. Canisius at Monongalia County Ballpark.

 

The series begins on Tuesday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m. ET and concludes on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Tuesday’s contest is a Dollar Night, where all tickets and select concession items are just $1.

 

The Mountaineers (12-8) are coming off a two-game sweep at Kansas, while the Golden Griffins (9-13) have won six in a row after a sweep of Saint Peter’s last weekend.

 

Live Stats: Tuesday, Wednesday | Live Video: Tuesday, Wednesday | Radio: Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG, Online

 

Tickets are available for both games against Canisius. Fans can join the excitement of WVU baseball and contribute to the home field advantage at Monongalia County Ballpark by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, purchasing tickets at WVUGAME.com or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office at Gate A of Monongalia County Ballpark.

 

For fans unable to cheer on the Mountaineers in person at Monongalia County Ballpark, there are several ways to tune in live. A live video stream and live stats can be found at WVUSports.com. Jeff Culhane and Ernie Galusky will call the action on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on various affiliates throughout the state. The radio broadcast can also be found online at WVUsports.com or on the TuneIn Radio App and the Mountaineer Gameday App. Additional updates and notes can be found on social media by following and connecting with the team at @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

 

There are several new parking and shuttle options for fans to make cheering on the Mountaineers even easier this season.

 

Free parking will be available for all fans in the new parking lots behind the outfield fence. Lot 1 is located behind the right field wall and adjacent to the clubhouse facility at the ballpark, and lot 2 is located across the street from Gate A.

 

A limited amount of ADA accessible parking will be available on a first-come, first-served basis for free in the lot closest to Gate A. The lot is located behind the left-center field wall, behind the scoreboard. An ADA parking permit will be required to park in the spots reserved for ADA parking.

 

Free shuttle service for WVU students will also be offered to each WVU baseball home game this season through WVU Transportation. Student must have a valid WVU Student ID to ride the shuttle.

 

The shuttle schedule and complete parking information can be found at WVUsports.com.

 

Canisius enters the midweek series with a 9-13 record and has won six consecutive games. The Golden Griffins are 3-0 in MAAC play after a home sweep of Saint Peter’s.

 

In its conference opener, CC earned an 11-inning, 8-7 victory over Saint Peter’s in the series opener before a 9-0 win on March 26 and an 11-7 victory on Sunday. Canisius is 3-7 away in road games and 2-6 in neutral site contests. CC opened the year with 18 consecutive games away from home before playing its last four games at home.

 

Against Power Five opponents, Canisius is 0-4 after getting swept by Michigan in Port St. Lucie, Florida to open the season. The Golden Griffins also lost four games at Cincinnati before beginning their six-game winning streak.

 

The Golden Griffins are under the direction of Mike McRae, in his 12th season as head coach. He owns a 347-300 mark in Buffalo and has guided CC to its first ever NCAA Tournament in 2013 and again in 2015. A four-time MAAC Coach of the Year, McRae has guided Canisius to three MAAC regular-season titles.

 

West Virginia is 5-2 all-time against Canisius after going 3-1 vs. the Golden Griffins in 2011. All seven meetings have taken place in Morgantown.

 

In the first meeting between the two teams, WVU swept the two-game series in 2007, 7-1 and 9-1. Canisius posted a 14-8 victory in the lone meeting in 2009. In 2011, WVU and CC met for a four-game series. The Golden Griffins posted a 16-12 win in the opener before the Mountaineers swept a doubleheader, 7-6 and 4-3. West Virginia won the series finale, 8-5.

 

WVU welcomes Big 12 foe Oklahoma State to Morgantown from April 1-3. Friday’s series opener, slated for a 6:30 p.m. ET first pitch, is a True Blue game, and all fans are encouraged to wear blue to cheer on the Mountaineers. There will also be a postgame fireworks show. Saturday’s contest, which begins at 4 p.m., is Family Day. Fans can purchase four tickets and receive a $10 concession voucher for just $25. The series concludes on Sunday, April 3 at 1 p.m. As part of the first Kids’ Day of the year, fans can get autographs from the Mountaineers and run the bases after the game.

 

WVU is coming off a sweep at Kansas. The Big 12 series began with a 1-0 shutout on March 25 before an 11-6 win on March 26. Sunday’s finale was cancelled due to snow.

 

In the opener, junior righty Chad Donato threw seven shutout innings to lead WVU to a 1-0 win. Donato was brilliant on the mound and earned his first win of the season as he held KU to five hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Senior closer Blake Smith came in to get the final six outs of the game and earned his third save of the season. West Virginia was held to just four hits, but a two-hit second inning capped by an RBI single by freshman shortstop Jimmy Galusky was all the offense WVU would need. Freshman right fielder Darius Hill and freshman second baseman Kyle Gray made highlight-reel plays to help Donato, who faced more than four batters in just two innings, the third and sixth.

 

Saturday, WVU earned the series win with an 11-6 win as coach Randy Mazey won his 100th game with the Mountaineers. Offensively, freshman designated hitter Marques Inman had three hits and three runs scored, both career highs, while senior center fielder KC Huth and junior catcher Ray Guerrini each drove in two runs. On the mound, it was senior righty Jeff Hardy that came in and got the final 11 outs of the game to earn his first save of the season. Hardy took the hill in the sixth inning after Kansas had scored six runs on 11 hits in the first 5.1 innings. After Hardy’s arrival, Kansas totaled just two hits as the senior recorded six strikeouts with no walks. The Mountaineer offensive outpouring was led by leadoff hits in all but three innings, and they scored runs in seven of nine innings. WVU had 15 hits with zero errors on the day. Kansas’ six runs came on 13 hits with one error, as the Jayhawks stranded 10 runners on base.

 

Coach Randy Mazey won his 100th game at WVU in the Mountaineers’ 11-6 victory at Kansas on Saturday. Mazey is the fifth coach in program history to eclipse the 100-win mark and the second to accomplish the feat in his first four seasons.

 

Mazey joins Ira Errett Rodgers (1921-42, 46), Steve Harrick (1948-67), Dale Ramsburgh (1968-94) and Greg Van Zant (1995-2012) with at least 100 wins at WVU. Along with Mazey, only Van Zant won his 100th game in his fourth season. Harrick won his 100 game in his eighth, and Rodgers and Ramsburg reached the milestone in their ninth seasons at WVU.

 

In his career, Mazey owns a 286-247-2 record, 14 wins shy of reaching 300 in his career. Mazey is 100-87 at WVU.

 

After a career-best outing in WVU’s 11-6 victory at Kansas on March 26, senior Jeff Hardy was named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week.

 

Hardy came in and got the final 11 outs of the game to earn his first career save. He entered the game in the sixth inning and allowed no runs on just two hits with a career-best six strikeouts and no walks the remainder of the game. Hardy shut down a Kansas offense that had scored six runs on 11 hits in the first 5.1 innings. As Kansas’ offensive attack had cut WVU’s lead to one at 7-6, Hardy prevented the Jayhawks from getting any closer as the WVU offense extended its lead in the final three innings.

 

Single game and flex plan tickets for the 2016 WVU baseball season are on sale now. Fans can join the excitement of WVU baseball and contribute to the home field advantage at Monongalia County Ballpark by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, purchasing tickets at WVUGAME.com or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum. More information on season tickets and the 30-game home schedule can be found at WVUsports.com, while single game ticket information is available here.

 

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.