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WVU Hosts No. 4 TTU in Final Big 12 Home Series
May 04, 2017 05:54 PM | Baseball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team hosts No. 4 Texas Tech in the final Big 12 home series of the season this weekend at Monongalia County Ballpark.
The series between two of the top three teams in the Big 12 Conference standings begins on Friday, May 5, at 6:30 p.m. ET. Saturday’s first pitch is set for 4 p.m., and will be broadcast live on FCS Central. Sunday’s contest commences at 1 p.m.
WVU enters the weekend in third place in the Big 12, with a 10-8 record, and is a game behind Texas Tech, who is second with an 11-7 record and a game behind first-place TCU.
The Mountaineers (26-17, 10-8 Big 12) are ranked No. 27 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll and are coming off a 17-1 victory over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday. West Virginia looks to improve on an 8-4 record against top-25 opponents, including a 2-1 mark at home, after a series win against No. 3 TCU three weeks ago.
The Red Raiders (37-12, 11-7) have won three in a row and four of their last five after a series win over TCU last weekend. TTU is ranked in the top six in all six major polls, coming in as high as No. 4 in four top-25 polls.
Friday’s game will feature postgame fireworks, presented by Coca-Cola. 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 and Mr. Twister’s balloon art and face painting during the game on the party deck. Sunday is also Mountaineer Kids Club Day, where all MKC members will receive an exclusive giveaway item.
TICKETS
Tickets are still available for Tuesday’s game. 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
Saturday’s contest will air live nationwide on FCS Central, with Bob Holtzman and Lanny Frattare on the call. Friday and Sunday’s games will be streamed for free on WVUsports.com. Fans can listen to the game 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. For the rest of the season, 95.7-FM, "The Ticket" in the Morgantown area has been added to the lineup of stations that will air WVU baseball games.
Links to video streams, radio broadcasts 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 TEXAS TECH
Texas Tech enters the weekend with a 37-12 record and an 11-7 mark in Big 12 play. The Red Raiders are 19-5 at home 13-5 on the road and 5-2 at a neutral site. TTU is 9-5 against top-25 opponents
The Red Raiders began their roadtrip in Columbus, Ohio, at Ohio State. After Tuesday’s game was rained out, Tech beat OSU on Wednesday, 5-3. Last weekend, TTU won a home series against No. 6 TCU. After a 4-1 loss in the opener, Texas Tech won the next two, 6-4 and 21-3.
Hunter Hargrove leads the offense with 68 hits, a .351 batting average, 46 RBIs, 20 doubles and a .552 slugging percentage. Orlando Garcia has a team-best 11 home runs. Both Hargrove and Garcia have stolen seven bases on the year.
On the mound, Steven Gingery is 8-0 with a 1.55 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 69.2 innings. Ryan Shetter joins Gingery with 11 starts, and owns a 3.46 ERA with 55 strikeouts and a 3-0 record. In relief, Parker Mushinski’s 2.25 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 26 appearances leads the way.
The Red Raiders are coached by Tim Tadlock, in his fifth season. He owns a 186-107 record after leading his alma mater to two College World Series berths in the last three seasons.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE RED RAIDERS
West Virginia is 6-7 all-time against Texas Tech, but the Mountaineers have won the last two meetings. WVU is 4-2 at home, with series wins in 2013 and 2015, and 1-5 in Lubbock. At last year’s Big 12 Championship, West Virginia won a 9-4 contest.
- Last season, Texas Tech, ranked No. 5 at the time, won two close games to open the series in Lubbock, 2-1 and 4-2. The Mountaineers won the finale, 8-7, which marked the highest-ranked victory in program history at the time.
- Five days later at the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City, the Mountaineers won a 9-4 contest to advance to the conference tournament semifinals.
- The series between WVU and TTU began in Charleston, West Virginia, in 2013. The Mountaineers won the series, with a 2-0 series-opening win and a 3-1 victory in the series finale.
- After getting swept in Lubbock in 2014, West Virginia again won the home series in 2015 at Monongalia County Ballpark. A 6-4 win in the opener was followed by an 8-2 win. TTU avoided the sweep with an 8-2 victory on Sunday.
ON DECK: MIDWEEK SERIES VS. PENN STATE, PNC PARK DEBUT
West Virginia plays Penn State in a pair of contests next week, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. ET contest at Monongalia County Ballpark on Tuesday, May 9. The following day, the two teams travel to Pittsburgh, to play at PNC Park at 7 p.m. Tickets to the game at the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates are available at Pirates.com/CollegeBaseball. Fans can purchase tickets for $7 in advance of gameday by using the promo code “WVU”.
LAST TIME OUT: WVU ROUTS EASTERN MICHIGAN IN ALL-AROUND WIN
West Virginia’s bats exploded for 17 runs and the pitching dominated in a 17-1 victory over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, May 2. The Mountaineers jumped out with four runs in each of the first two innings and never looked back, scoring at least three runs four times. Meanwhile, the WVU pitching staff held the Eagles hitless into the seventh inning and allowed just three hits all night.
Sophomore designated hitter Braden Zarbnisky launched his first career home run, while sophomore catcher Ivan Gonzalez also homered to power an offense that saw 11 Mountaineers, and all but one starter, record at least one hit. Six had at least two hits, and six drove in two or more runs.
On the mound, freshman starter Sam Kessler, junior reliever Shane Ennis and freshman reliever Riley Troutt held Eastern Michigan hitless for 6.1 innings. Ennis, a native of Romney, West Virginia, earned his first win of the season and second of his career.
QUICK HITS: KEY TEAM NOTES
- West Virginia is celebrating its 125th year of baseball. Founded in 1892, WVU owns an all-time record of 2,121-1,519-19. The Mountaineers are the second-oldest program in the Big 12.
- The Mountaineers are ranked nationally for the third consecutive week, coming in at No. 27 in the NCBWA poll. WVU has been ranked for the first time in program history in four polls, and is in the top 25 for the first time since 1982.
- West Virginia is ranked No. 11 in the NCAA RPI. The Big 12 has four teams in the top 15 and the league has the No. 1 RPI in the nation.
- WVU is 26-17 on the season, 10-5 at home, 14-12 on the road and 2-0 at a neutral site.
- WVU is in third place in the Big 12, with a 10-8 record, and won its first four weekend series in conference play. West Virginia is one game behind second-place Texas Tech and two games behind TCU.
- The Mountaineers are 8-4 against top-25 teams, with all but three games coming on the road.
- Senior Jackson Cramer has been named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes senior student-athletes who have shown a commitment in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. Fans can vote for Cramer at seniorCLASSaward.com.
- Kyle Davis has a team-best 12-game hit streak, while Kyle Gray has reached base in a career-best 14 consecutive games.
- Brandon White had a team-best 16 game reached-base streak, which ended on April 28 against Oklahoma.
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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