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WVU Hosts Baylor in Big 12 Series
April 28, 2016 05:04 PM | Baseball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team welcomes Baylor to Monongalia County Ballpark for the first time for a weekend series from April 29-May 1.
Due to potential inclement weather in the Morgantown area, the schedule has been adjusted. The series will still begin tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET. A doubleheader will be played on Saturday, with first pitch at Noon. The second game of the single-admission doubleheader will take place approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. No game will be played on Sunday.
Fans with tickets to Sunday’s game can exchange their tickets for today’s doubleheader. Fans who cannot make it on Saturday can exchange their ticket for a future game at the Gate A ticket office at Monongalia County Ballpark.
Friday, there will be postgame fireworks, presented by United Bank, and the national-champion WVU rifle team will be honored throughout the game.
Saturday is Family Day, where fans can purchase four tickets and get a $10 concession voucher for just $25. The Hoops and Home Run tailgate with the men’s basketball team has been postponed. Further information about a rescheduled date for the tailgate will be announced at a later date.
The Mountaineers (21-18) are 6-8 in Big 12 play and fifth in the league standings, while the Bears (19-22) are seventh in the league with a 5-10 league record. Since joining the conference in 2013, WVU is 4-5 against Baylor, but 2-0 at home after a pair of wins in 2014 in Charleston.
WVU will open the weekend with junior right-hander Chad Donato (1-3, 3.39 ERA) on the mound. Senior left-hander Ross Vance (4-3, 5.57 ERA) will start on Saturday, while freshman righty Michael Grove (1-2, 2.88 ERA) makes his weekend starting debut on Sunday.
Donato will go up against junior right-hander Drew Tolson (4-2, 4.90 ERA), while Vance is set to face junior lefty Daniel Castano (2-4, 4.48 ERA). Grove will toe the rubber against fellow freshman righty Andrew McInvale (2-2, 4.85).
Game Notes | Live Stats: Friday, Saturday, Sunday | Live Video: Friday, Saturday, Sunday | Radio: Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG, Online
TICKETS
Tickets are available for all three games against Baylor. 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.
FOLLOWING ALONG
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, courtesy of Coca-Cola, 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.
PARKING AND SHUTTLE INFO
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.
SCOUTING BAYLOR
Baylor enters the weekend with a 19-22 record and a 5-10 mark in Big 12 play. The Bears are 14-14 at home and 5-8 on the road.
Baylor coming off an 8-7 win over Incarnate Word on Wednesday. The Bears scored in six consecutive innings before Incarnate Word scored five in the eighth to tie the game at 7-7. Steven McLean hit a two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to win it.
Last weekend, BU suffered a series loss at Kansas State. Baylor won the opener, 7-5 in 10 innings, before K-State prevailed 11-7 on Saturday and 10-4 on Sunday.
Baylor comes to Morgantown having lost six of its last eight, which began with a sweep by Oklahoma State at home.
The Bears are led by Steve Rodriguez, in his first season as head coach. He owns a 19-22 record in Waco, Texas and a 305-320 mark in his 13-year career as head coach. He comes from Pepperdine, where he is the second-winningest coach in program history.
HISTORY VS. THE BEARS
West Virginia is 4-5 all-time against Baylor, including a perfect 2-0 mark at home.
WVU and BU first met in 2013, the Mountaineers’ first season in the Big 12. West Virginia won the opener, 9-8, before Baylor won the final two games, 8-0 and 11-1, in Waco, Texas.
In 2014, WVU won both games in Charleston, West Virginia. The Mountaineers opened with an 8-7, 12-inning win on a walk-off double by Jackson Cramer. After Saturday’s game was cancelled, back-to-back home runs by Ryan McBroom and Jacob Rice helped propel WVU to a 4-1 victory in the series finale.
Last year, BU claimed two of three at home. After a 5-4 loss in the opener and a 10-4 defeat on Saturday, WVU won the finale, 8-2. Chad Donato earned the win with 8.0 innings of work, allowing two runs on five hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Kyle Davis and Ray Guerrini each drove in three runs, and Davis was one of three Mountaineers with two hits. Guerrini hit his second homer of the season.
ON DECK: WVU VS. VIRGINIA TECH
WVU is in action again on Tuesday, May 3 against Virginia Tech. First pitch at Monongalia County Ballpark is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. It will be the first ever Stripe the Park, where fans sitting in even sections are encouraged to wear blue, and fans sitting in odd sections should wear gold. Complete details about Stripe the Park can be found at WVUSports.com/StripeThePark.
LAST TIME OUT: MARSHALL SWEEP
West Virginia is coming off a 9-8 victory over Marshall on Wednesday afternoon at Monongalia County Ballpark to sweep the season series against the Thundering Herd.
The Mountaineers used a five-run seventh inning to secure the first series sweep in the in-state rivalry by either team since 1997. The one-run contest was the fourth consecutive in the series and the fifth in the last five games between WVU and MU.
WVU scored nine runs on 13 hits, while Marshall, who nearly came back with a five-run eighth inning, tallied eight runs on 11 hits.
Junior Jackson Cramer paced the Mountaineer offense with three hits and four RBIs, including the eventual game-winner in the seventh. Freshman Ivan Vera had two hits and two RBIs, while sophomore Kyle Davis added a three-run home run, his sixth long ball of the season.
Eight of the Mountaineers’ nine starters had at least one hit and six either drove in a run, scored a run or both.
Sophomore right-hander BJ Myers (5-3) earned the win after pitching 4.0 innings in relief. He allowed three runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks.
West Virginia took a 3-0 lead early, but Marshall answered to tie the game at 3-3. The Mountaineers regained the advantage at 4-3 before a five-run seventh inning to give WVU a 9-3 lead. But the Thundering Herd answered the following inning with five runs of their own to cut the deficit to one at 9-8.
That’s when senior righty Blake Smith came in to get the final five outs of the game. In 1.2 innings, Smith struck out three and earned his fifth save of the year.
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 Gate A of Monongalia County Ballpark. More information on single game tickets and can be found at WVUsports.com, while flex plan ticket information is available here.
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