MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team hosts its home-opening series this weekend, from March 16-18, vs. Canisius at Monongalia County Ballpark.
The home opener is set for Friday, March 16, at 3 p.m. ET, while Saturday's contest will begin at 2 p.m. First pitch on Sunday is at 1 p.m.
Friday, March 16, 3 p.m. –
Video |
Radio |
Stats
Saturday, March 17, 2 p.m. –
Video |
Radio |
Stats
Sunday, March 18, 1 p.m. –
Video |
Radio |
Stats
Tickets |
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Tickets are available for all three games this weekend, at
WVUGAME.com, by calling 1-800-WVU GAME or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum or on game day at Monongalia County Ballpark. Friday is a Dollar Day, with tickets and select concessions available for just $1, and fans can play Baseball Bingo. Saturday will feature $5 tickets on game day and a flash sale, where fans can purchase tickets to any game this season for just $5 by using the promo code LUCKY on
WVUGAME.com/Promo.
To provide a safer environment for Mountaineer fans and to expedite entry into all ticketed WVU athletic events, the West Virginia Department of Intercollegiate Athletics enforces the NFL's Clear Bag Policy. The athletic department invites and encourages fans to visit
WVUsports.com/clearbag for more information, to view pictures of permissible and non-permissible items and to obtain answers to frequently asked questions about the clear bag policy.
After playing their first 15 games on the road in the first month of the season, the Mountaineers (7-8) come home to the familiar surroundings of Monongalia County Ballpark, where they went 14-8 a year ago and own a 42-28 all-time record. WVU has won back-to-back weekend series, with a sweep at Western Kentucky, from March 2-4, and a series victory at Middle Tennessee last weekend.
The Mountaineers rank among the NCAA and Big 12 leaders in several statistical categories. WVU leads the Big 12 and is No. 14 in the NCAA with 22 home runs, while its .458 slugging percentage, 20 stolen bases and 10 sacrifice bunts are No. 4 in the conference.
Individually,
Kevin Brophy leads the Big 12 and is No. 9 nationally with 0.46 home runs per game, and
Ivan Gonzalez also leads the league and is No. 19 overall with 19.3 at-bats per strikeout.
Darius Hill also is No. 1 in the Big 12 with 0.53 doubles per game, and his eight total doubles rank No. 15 nationally.
The Golden Griffins (10-4) conclude their season-opening, 17-game roadtrip this weekend in Morgantown. Canisius is playing its third Power Five opponent of the season, after splitting two games against Ohio State to open the year and beating No. 25 NC State on March 4.
Senior right-hander
BJ Myers (0-0, 4.64 ERA) will make the home-opening start for West Virginia on Friday against Canisius' junior left-hander Jared Kennedy (1-0, 1.47). Saturday, sophomore righty
Alek Manoah (0-2, 5.40) will start for the Mountaineers, while Charlie Sobieraski (2-0, 4.26) throws for the Golden Griffins. Sunday, sophomore right-hander
Kade Strowd (2-1, 3.20) will toe the rubber for WVU and senior lefty J.P. Stevenson (2-0, 1.54) goes for CC.
FOLLOWING ALONG
All three games will include a free video stream, radio broadcast and live stats.
Dan Zangrilli and Ernie Galusky will call the action.
SCOUTING CANISIUS
Canisius comes to Morgantown with a 10-4 record, with all 14 games coming away from home. CC is 7-1 in true road games after a series win at Liberty last weekend. A 5-4, extra-inning loss in the finale snapped a four-game win streak for the Golden Griffins.
Liam Wilson boasts a team-best .333 batting average with 20 hits and a .600 slugging percentage. Ryan Stekl's 14 RBIs and four home runs leads the team.
Three pitchers have earned two wins on the season, while Jared Kennedy has a team-best 1.47 ERA in 18.1 innings. J.P. Stevenson leads the team with 23 strikeouts and 23.1 innings pitched, while he is second with a 1.54 ERA.
Matt Mazurek is in his first season as head coach of the Golden Griffins after spending the previous 12 years as an assistant. A 2006 Canisius graduate, Mazurek played for two seasons at CC and boasts a .355 career batting average.
SERIES HISTORY VS. GOLDEN GRIFFINS
The Mountaineers are 5-4 all-time vs. Canisius, with all nine games coming in Morgantown. West Virginia swept a two-game series in 2007 before a loss in 2009. WVU responded by winning three of four in 2011 before dropping a pair of midweek contests in 2016.
In the 2016 series,
Darius Hill led the team with three hits in six at-bats, while
Ivan Gonzalez also hit .500 and was one of five Mountaineers with two hits. On the mound,
BJ Myers started one game and did not allow a run on one hit in 2.0 innings.
ON DECK: VS. LA SALLE
The Mountaineers conclude the homestand vs. La Salle on Tuesday, March 20, at 3 p.m. ET at Monongalia County Ballpark. It is a Dollar Day, with tickets and select concessions available for just $1, and fans can play Baseball Bingo. Tickets are available at
WVUGAME.com, by calling 1-800-WVU GAME or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum or on game day at Monongalia County Ballpark.
LAST TIME OUT: MIDWEEK DEFEAT
The Mountaineers played their first midweek contests of the season this week while also facing its first of nine teams that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago. WVU lost the opener at Tennessee Tech, 8-0, before a 9-1 defeat on Wednesday. The two games in chilly Cookeville, Tennessee, concluded a five-game roadtrip in the Volunteer State.
- West Virginia was shut out for the first time in an 8-0 loss on March 13. Darius Hill, Marques Inman and Braden Zarbnisky each had hits, and Ivan Gonzalez drew a pair of walks. Zarbnisky has reached base in every game he has appeared in this year and boasts a reached-base streak of 11 games, dating back to the 2017 season. Starter Isaiah Kearns made his second start and third appearance of the year, allowing two runs on four hits with a strikeout and two walks in 4.0 innings.
- Jimmy Galusky hit his fifth home run of the season in Wednesday's 9-1 loss. He was one of four players with one hit for WVU. On the mound, Christian Young made his first career start and fell to 2-1 on the year. In 4.1 innings, he allowed four runs on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks. He departed with one out in the fifth inning and two runners on, trailing 2-0. Wednesday was the only time this year that West Virginia will play two midweek games in a week.
Season tickets, single game tickets and mini-packages for the 2018 season are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets at
WVUGAME.com, call 1-800-WVU GAME or visit the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum. The 2018 schedule, with game times, can be found on
the baseball schedule page on WVUsports.com. A
printable PDF and
schedule breakdown also are available on WVUsports.com.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on
Twitter,
Facebook and
Instagram and visit
WVUsports.com.
