Zarbnisky Named Student-Athlete of the Week

March 05, 2018 03:08 PM | Baseball, General, Golf, Men's Swimming & Diving, Rifle, Women's Basketball, Gymnastics, Women's Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling

Varsity Sports Report

By: WVU Athletic Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.- Following the Mountaineers' series sweep over Western Kentucky from March 2-4, junior left fielder/right-handed pitcher Braden Zarbnisky of the baseball team has been named the West Virginia University Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

Zarbnisky had a career-high five hits, drove in the game-winning run in the 10th inning and earned the win on the mound in Saturday's 11-9 victory as part of an impressive weekend. He went 5-for-5 at the plate, the most hits by a Big 12 player in a game this season, and drove in the game-winning run in the 10th inning on a single before heads-up base running put him on second on the throw home and third on the throwing error. He later scored the team's 11th run, his third run scored of the day.

On the mound, Zarbnisky pitched the ninth and 10th innings to earn his first win of the season. In three games this weekend, Zarbnisky was second in the Big 12 with a .571 batting average and a .600 on-base percentage, tied for sixth with eight hits, including at least one in every game, and had a double and a triple while going 2-for-2 on the basepaths and not committing an error in the field.

This Week in Women's Basketball: The Mountaineers are off this week and will learn their postseason fate on Monday, March 12.

Last Week in Women's Basketball: The West Virginia women's basketball team went 1-2 this week as the team capped the regular season and entered tournament play … on Monday, the Mountaineers traveled to Waco, Texas, to face No. 3 Baylor in the regular-season finale … WVU fell to the Bears, 80-54 … junior guard/forward Naomi Davenport registered her sixth double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the loss … senior forward Teana Muldrow had 16 points … the Mountaineers headed to the 2018 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at the end of the week, set for a quarterfinal tilt with Oklahoma State on Saturday … WVU downed the Cowgirls, 69-60, behind 21 points from Davenport and 15 from junior guard Katrina Pardee … the Mountaineers advanced to the semifinals, where they faced No. 7 Texas on Sunday … WVU fell to the Longhorns, 68-55, to end its tournament run … Davenport again led the team with 17 points, followed by senior forward Kristina King with 12.

Notes: WVU entered the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament as the No. 6 seed for the third time overall and second straight year … the Mountaineers are 4-2 as the No. 6 seed … Saturday's meeting with Oklahoma State was the first tournament meeting against the Cowgirls … it was the fourth time WVU faced Texas in the Big 12 Tournament, with the series tied at 2-2 … WVU has now made four appearances in the semifinals in six Big 12 Championships.

This Week in Gymnastics: The Mountaineers travel to Washington, D.C., for a meet at No. 18 George Washington with Pitt on Sunday, March 11, at 1 p.m., inside the Charles E. Smith Center.

Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU tallied its second-best score of the season and its top mark away from Morgantown with a third place, 196.075 total at Pitt on March 4 … Penn State tallied 196.65 and finished first, while the host Panthers scored 196.475 and placed second … Temple scored 194.25 and finished fourth … WVU finished second on vault (49.2) and floor (49.225), and third on uneven bars (48.825) and balance beam (48.825) … senior Robyn Bernard matched her career-best vault score of 9.925, set just last week, and tied for the event win, her first career victory … a trio of Mountaineers placed second on floor, as seniors Zaakira Muhammad and Jordan Gillette, as well as junior Kirah Koshinski, all scored 9.875 … sophomore Abby Kaufman paced on beam with a season-high matching 9.825, good enough for fourth place … junior Jaquie Tun tied for fifth place on bars with a 9.825 total.

Notes: WVU (8-9, 0-3) has scored 196.0 or better in two of its last three meets … Gillette's floor score matched her career high … sophomore Chloe Cluchey matched her season-best bars showing with a 9.775 score … WVU's team floor score was its second best of the year and top mark away from Morgantown … WVU's vault and bars showings also were its second-best scores of the season.

This Week in Track and Field: Redshirt senior Amy Cashin and redshirt junior Madelin Gardner represent West Virginia at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, from March 9-10, in College Station, Texas.

Last Week in Track and Field: The Mountaineers were off last week.

Notes: Cashin (mile) and Gardner (pole vault) are WVU's first indoor national qualifiers since Kelly Williams in 2013 … Cashin enters the NCAA meet ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 2 in the Mid-Atlantic Regional in the mile … her time of 4.36.89 (adjusted) is seeded No. 10 in the event's list of participants … the Werribee, Victoria, Australia, native will compete in the second national meet of her collegiate career; she qualified for the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last season … Gardner's school-record mark of 4.37 meters (14 feet, 4 inches) is good for No. 1 in the Mid-Atlantic Regional, No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 8 nationally this indoor season … the two-day meet at Texas A&M's Gilliam Indoor Stadium is set to begin on Friday at 1 p.m. ET.

This Week in Wrestling: Following a week off from competition, a trio of Mountaineers will compete in the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, slated for March 15-17, at Quicken Loans Arena, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Last Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers placed four on the podium at the 2018 Big 12 Wrestling Championship on Sunday, including two runner-up finishes from redshirt junior Zeke Moisey (125) and redshirt senior Jacob A. Smith (197) … in addition, redshirt freshman Matthew Schmitt placed fourth in the 133-pound bracket, while redshirt senior Parker VonEgidy took sixth in the 174-pound pool … with top-five finishes in their respective weights, Moisey, Schmitt and Smith all earned automatic bids to the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships … as a team, WVU finished the championship in ninth place with 50 points.

Notes: Wrestlers who did not earn a bid at their qualifying tournament may still be eligible for one of 47 at-large bids, which will be announced on March 6 ... all weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers ... the at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition, quality wins, coaches' panel rankings, results against common opponents, RPI, qualifying event placement and winning percentage … a trio of Mountaineers rank in the top-33 of their respective weights in the most recent NCAA Coaches' Panel Rankings released on Feb. 22 ... Moisey comes in at No. 15 at 125 pounds … Smith checks in at No. 22 in his weight class of 197 pounds … Schmitt rounds out the Mountaineers in the coaches' panel, coming in at No. 32 at 133 pounds ... additionally, Moisey and Schmitt both appear in the RPI rankings, checking in at No. 12 and No. 24, respectively ... to be eligible for an RPI ranking, a wrestler must have a minimum of 17 Division I matches at their given weight class … of note, Moisey has a team-lead 22 wins on the year, followed by Schmitt with 21.

This Week in Rifle: The top-ranked Mountaineers shoot for their sixth straight and nation-best 20th NCAA title at the 2018 NCAA National Championships March 9-10, at The Citadel's McAlister Field House in Charleston, South Carolina.

Last Week in Rifle: WVU (13-0, 9-0 GARC) did not compete last week.

Notes: Five Mountaineers will represent WVU at the NCAA National Championships: senior Elizabeth Gratz, junior Ginny Thrasher, sophomores Milica Babic and Morgan Phillips and redshirt freshman David Koenders … Phillips and Babic are the reigning NCAA smallbore and air rifle champions, respectively … WVU features three past NCAA champions, as Thrasher swept the individual titles in 2016 … a Mountaineer has claimed the air rifle title each season since 2015 … in their last match, the Mountaineers claimed the 2018 GARC Championships title with a 4699 mark.

This Week in Swimming and Diving: Six WVU divers compete in the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, from March 5-7, in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Last Week in Swimming and Diving: The Mountaineers were off last week.

Notes: Senior Logan McHenry, juniors Julia Calcut, Averly Hobbs, Austin Smith and Madelyn Woods and freshman Callie Smith are competing in the NCAA Zone meet this week … the top six men's divers on 1-meter and the top five on 3-meter and platform will qualify for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, while the women will advance the top six divers on 1-meter and 3-meter and top five on platform … competition is set to begin with women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter on Monday, March 5, at noon ET … Tuesday's action also is scheduled to commence at noon, featuring women's 3-meter and men's 1-meter … the meet wraps up on Wednesday with men's and women's platform at 11 a.m. … junior Emma Harris and sophomore Morgan Bullock earned qualification into the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, as announced on Feb. 27 … Harris is set to compete in the 200 breaststroke, while Bullock is entered in the 200 butterfly … the meet runs from March 14-17, in Columbus, Ohio … the duo are the first women's national qualifiers since Rachael Burnett and Mandie Nugent in 2013 … qualifiers for the men's NCAA meet are set to be announced on Wednesday, March 7.

This Week in Tennis: West Virginia (4-4, 0-0 Big 12) will return to action on Sunday, March 10, as the Mountaineers take on Maryland in College Park, Maryland. The match is slated to begin at noon and will take place at the Maryland Tennis Facility.

Last Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers fell to No. 35 Old Dominion, 4-0, in their lone match of the week … WVU started the match by dropping the doubles point, as ODU claimed two of three doubles matches … Christina Jordan and Sofía Duran earned the win on the first court, besting Nataliia Vlasova and Victoria Olivarez, 6-2 … West Virginia fell in the first three singles matches on courts No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4, to give ODU the 4-0 win.

Notes: Sunday's contest between WVU and Maryland will be the 17th all-time meeting between two schools … senior Lyn Yuen Choo and freshman Caputo are tied for the team lead with five singles wins apiece … the doubles pair of Jordan and Duran pace the team with five wins in doubles action.

This Week in Golf: WVU is off … the Mountaineer return to competition on March 18-19 when they travel to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for the Hayt Invitational.

Last Week in Golf: The WVU golf team did not compete.

Notes: Junior Max Sear leads the team with a 72.47 scoring average this season … freshman Matthew Sharpstene is second, averaging 73.05 strokes per round … sophomore Etienne Papineau is third with an average of 73.21 … Sear boasts five top-20 finishes in six tournaments this season, including three top-10 finishes … Sear also leads the team with 72 birdies on the season … Sharpstene boasts the lowest round of the year, a school-record 64 at the Martin Downs Collegiate … eight of nine players have shot rounds in the 60s this season.

This Week in WVU Baseball: The Mountaineers begin a five-game stretch in Tennessee with a weekend series at Middle Tennessee State from March 9-11 … the series begins on Friday, March 9, at 7 p.m. ET … first pitch on Saturday, March 10, is set for 5 p.m., while the finale will be on Sunday, March 11, at 2 p.m.

Last Week in WVU Baseball: Last week, West Virginia swept Western Kentucky in a three-game series from March 2-4, in Bowling Green, Kentucky … WVU used a four-run eighth inning rally to win the opener, 7-5, holding WKU to one run on three hits in the final 4.0 innings … Darius Hill led the offense with four hits, including a home run and two doubles, while Chase Illig came off the bench in the eighth inning to hit a three-run home run, and Shane Ennis got the win to improve to 2-0 on the season … The Mountaineers won a 10-inning slugfest the next day, 11-9, as they hit four home runs and every starter had at least one hit, seven had at least one RBI and seven scored one or more runs … Braden Zarbnisky was 5-for-5 at the plate and drove in the game-winning run in the 10th inning while also earning the win on the mound … West Virginia completed the sweep the following day with a 7-1 win as Kyle Gray hit his third home run in the last two games and Kade Strowd earned the win, holding WKU to one run on four hits in 5.2 innings pitched … the three-game sweep was WVU's first sweep of the season.

Notes: West Virginia has won three in a row and is 5-5 on the season, with all 10 games coming away from home … WVU hit seven home runs at WKU, including a season-high four on Saturday, while the 15 hits Saturday marked the fifth time this year WVU has had 10 or more hits in a game … WVU leads the Big 12 and is ranked No. 9 nationally with 17 home runs … reliever Shane Ennis' scoreless streak to start the season was snapped at 9.2 innings after he gave up one run on two hits in 2.1 innings on Friday, though he did earn the win to improve to 2-0 on the year … Andrew Zitel extended his career-long and team-leading hitting streak to seven consecutive games, and added a career-high-tying two RBIs on Saturday … Chase Illig hit home runs in back-to-back games, with a three-run shot coming off the bench in the eighth inning on Friday … Illig has three home runs this season and six in his career … Kyle Gray hit a career-high two home runs on Saturday and added another on Sunday, he now has four on the season and seven in his career … Braden Zarbnisky had a career-high five hits on Saturday and also pitched 2.0 innings in relief to earn the win, allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts … reliever Sam Kessler made two appearances and earned the save on Friday, his third of the year, pitching the final 1.2 innings … Kessler has been on the mound for the final out of four of WVU's five wins … starter Kade Strowd earned the win on Sunday and pitched 5.2 innings and allowed one run on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks … Brandon White extended his reached-base streak to 11 consecutive games, dating back to last year, and he has reached base in all 10 games to start the 2018 season … Ivan Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to six consecutive games … Darius Hill leads the Big 12 and is No. 5 nationally with seven doubles … Kevin Brophy ranks No. 1 in the NCAA with 0.67 home runs per game and has six on the season, while he is No. 12 nationally with a 0.935 slugging percentage … Zitel is averaging 0.38 sacrifice bunts per game, best in the conference and 15th nationally.