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WVU Hosts Kansas in Big 12 Home Opener
April 06, 2017 07:26 PM | Baseball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team opens Big 12 play at home against Kansas this weekend, from April 7-9, at Monongalia County Ballpark.
First pitch of Friday’s series opener is set for 6:30 p.m., while Saturday’s contest will begin at 4 p.m. and Sunday’s game will start at 1 p.m.
The Mountaineers (17-10, 4-2 Big 12) enter the weekend on a four game winning streak, following wins over Marshall and Morehead State to open the homestand. WVU, one of two teams that hasn’t played a Big 12 home game this season, is tied for second in the league after back-to-back conference series wins, at No. 10 Baylor and at No. 23 Oklahoma State.
WVU enters the weekend ranked No. 9 in the NCAA RPI. The ranking is second in the Big 12, which has five teams in the top 18. The league also owns the No. 1 conference RPI in the nation.
The Jayhawks (13-15, 3-3 Big 12) have won three in a row and are coming off a series win against Texas last weekend. KU also won the series finale at No. 3 TCU in the opening weekend of Big 12 play.
Junior right-hander BJ Myers (2-2, 4.09 ERA) will face KU junior lefty Taylor Turski (2-2, 2.55 ERA) on Friday night. On Saturday, a pair of sophomore right-handers will face off, Michael Grove (2-1, 3.41 ERA) for the Mountaineers and Jackson Goddard (2-1, 4.58 ERA) for the Jayhawks. Two freshman righties will start Sunday’s series finale, with Kade Strowd (1-0, 1.93 ERA) going for WVU and Ryan Zeferjahn (3-3, 5.74 ERA) for Kansas.
Friday is a gold rush, and all fans are encouraged to wear gold, while the first 1,000 fans will receive a free commemorative 125-years baseball. Saturday is family day, where four tickets and a $10 concession voucher can be purchased for just $25. Sunday is kids day, with postgame autographs and running the bases. Sunday is also military and first responders appreciation day, featuring $4 admission with a military or first responder I.D.
TICKETS
Tickets are available for all three games this weekend. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, purchasing tickets at WVUGAME.com or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office at Gate A of Monongalia County Ballpark on gameday or in advance at the Gold Gate at the WVU Coliseum.
FOLLOWING ALONG
All three games will be streamed online at WVUsports.com, and fans can listen to the games on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on various affiliates throughout the state, online at WVUsports.com, on the Mountaineer Gameday App and the TuneInRadio App. Dan Zangrilli and Ernie Galusky will call the action.
Links to the live streams, the radio broadcast and live stats can be found on the baseball schedule page on WVUsports.com.
Additional behind-the-scenes updates, news and notes from Monongalia County Ballpark 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 parking and shuttle options for fans to make cheering on the Mountaineers even easier again this season.
Free parking will be available for all fans in the 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 will pick up at Towers and the Mountainlair, making two trips beginning 90 minutes before first pitch, and returning following the game.
SCOUTING KANSAS
Kansas comes to Morgantown with a 13-15 record and a 3-3 mark in Big 12 play. KU is 9-8 at home, 4-5 on the road and 0-2 at a neutral site.
The Jayhawks, who have won three in a row, are coming off a 4-2 win at Missouri State on Tuesday. KU rallied with two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to win it.
In Big 12 action, Kansas lost its first series, but won the series finale, at No. 3 TCU. The Jayhawks followed with a home series win against Texas, posting 2-1 and 5-4 victories.
Matt McLaughlin leads the team with a .354 batting average, 34 hits, 15 RBIs, two home runs and 47 total bases. James Cosentino is second with 24 hits and 30 total bases and owns a .233 average.
On the mound, Zack Leban’s 1.37 ERA in 14 relief appearances leads the team, while Taylor Turski’s 2.55 ERA and 36 strikeouts is tops among starters.
Ritch Price is in his 14th season at KU and owns a 431-347-3 record. He has guided the Jayhawks to nine 30-win seasons and a Big 12 title in 2006 and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE JAYHAWKS
West Virginia is 7-6 all-time against Kansas after sweeping a snow-shortened two-game series last year in Lawrence. WVU is 4-2 at home, 2-3 on the road and 1-1 at a neutral site. All 13 meetings have come since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2013.
Last year, WVU won both games at KU. 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, 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. Closer Blake Smith came in to get the final six outs and earned his third save. West Virginia was held to just four hits, but a two-hit second inning capped by an RBI single by Jimmy Galusky was all the offense WVU would need. Darius Hill and Kyle Gray made highlight-reel plays to help Donato, who faced more than four batters in just two innings.
- The next day, WVU earned the series win with an 11-6 win as coach Randy Mazey won his 100th game at WVU. Offensively, Marques Inman had three hits and three runs scored, both career highs, while KC Huth and Ray Guerrini each drove in two runs. On the mound, it was 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 he 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.
In the first meeting between the two teams, in 2013, WVU swept the series in Beckley, W.Va. The Mountaineers won a trio of one-run games, 1-0, 4-3 and 3-2.
KU swept WVU in 2014. It was a close three games, with the Jayhawks winning 5-3, 5-2 and 9-8.
In 2015 in Morgantown, West Virginia lost the first two games of the series, 3-1 and 9-5, before a 5-4 win in the series finale.
The Mountaineers and Jayhawks have also met twice at the Big 12 Championships. WVU lost a 7-2 contest in 2013 before a 10-9 win in 2014.
ON DECK: MOUNTAINEERS TRAVEL TO MARYLAND
West Virginia travels to Maryland on Tuesday, April 11. The midweek matchup is set to begin at 4 p.m. ET in College Park, Maryland.
LAST TIME OUT: PAIR OF MIDWEEK WINS
West Virginia extended its winning streak to four games with a pair of midweek wins, 14-7 against in-state foe Marshall on Tuesday, and 5-1 vs. Morehead State the following day.
The Mountaineers improved to 44-24 all-time against Marshall on April 4, and have won five of the last six games and 14 of the last 17 in the series. Behind an offensive explosion that scored 14 runs on 16 hits, with the help of five Marshall errors, West Virginia benefited from a strong pitching performance from a freshmen duo of Isaiah Kearns and Sam Kessler. The Mountaineers were led by Jackson Cramer, who had a team-high four RBIs with a team-high-tying three hits with three runs scored. Cramer hit his fifth home run of the season and third in four games at home in the first inning to get the day started.
The next day, WVU took advantage of several Morehead State miscues to earn a 5-1 win. The Mountaineers scored two runs in the first inning and another two in the third. The runs came on a combined four walks, three wild pitches, two throwing errors along with a failed pickoff attempt and two hits, both singles in the third. The WVU pitching staff held the Eagles, one of the nation’s best teams offensively, to just one run on four hits. It was the second time all season MSU was held to fewer than two runs and six hits. Alek Manoah made his first career start, while Cody Wood earned the win in his first career appearance.
QUICK HITS: KEY TEAM NOTES
- West Virginia is celebrating its 125th year of baseball. Founded in 1892, WVU owns an all-time record of 2,112-1,512-19. The Mountaineers are the second-oldest program in the Big 12.
- The Mountaineers are 17-10 on the season, 4-1 at home and have won nine of their last 12 games.
- WVU enters the weekend ranked No. 9 in the NCAA RPI. The ranking is second in the Big 12, which has five teams in the top 18. The league also owns the No. 1 conference RPI in the nation.
- A total of 2,084 fans watched WVU beat Jacksonville on March 25, the 13th-largest home crowd in program history and seventh-biggest at Monongalia County Ballpark.
- Senior Jackson Cramer has been named one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes senior student-athletes who have shown a commitment in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition.
- Cole Austin hit safely in a career-best 10 games, the second-longest hitting streak by a Mountaineer this season. After leading the team with a .571 average and eight hits in WVU’s series win at Baylor, Austin was named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, on March 20.
- Darius Hill had a career-best and team-leading 13-game hitting streak, which ended on March 8 at Southeastern Louisiana. He had at least one hit in each of WVU’s first 11 games, with four multi-hit games and four multi-RBI contests. Hill is tied for second on the team with 17 hits and third with 11 RBIs.
- Sophomore catcher Ivan Gonzalez has been named to the 2017 Johnny Bench Award Watch List. The annual award is given annually to the top Division I collegiate catcher.
Single game tickets, flex plan tickets and mini packs for the 2017 WVU baseball season are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, going to WVUGAME.com or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office in the WVU Coliseum. The 2017 schedule is available on WVUsports.com.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit WVUsports.com.
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