Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU Hosts Canisius Wednesday in Place of Tonight’s Canceled Game at Pitt
April 17, 2018 07:09 PM | Baseball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team will host Canisius tomorrow, April 18, at 4 p.m. ET, in place of tonight's Backyard Brawl at Pitt that has been canceled due to inclement weather.
Admission for Wednesday's game vs. Canisius will be free for all fans at Monongalia County Ballpark.
The Mountaineers (16-17) and Golden Griffins (20-11) meet for the fourth time this season, after WVU won a weekend series from March 16-18, 2-1, also at Monongalia County Ballpark.
Like WVU, CC's midweek game vs. Niagara today was canceled.
FOLLOWING ALONG
There are a number of ways to follow along with Wednesday's game, with Dan Zangrilli and Ernie Galusky calling the action.
SCOUTING CANISIUS
Canisius comes to Morgantown with a 20-11 record and a 9-3 mark in MAAC play. CC is 12-7 on the road and 3-3 at a neutral site, having played all but six games away from home. The Golden Griffins have won three in a row after a sweep at Iona this weekend.
Conner Morro leads the team with a .363 batting average in 91 at-bats, while Liam Wilson has a team-high 47 hits and a .685 slugging percentage and is second with 30 RBIs and six home runs.
On the mound, Will Frank owns a 0.92 ERA in 11 appearances, while J.P. Stevenson has a team-best six wins and 53 strikeouts while making nine starts. Tyler Smith has earned six of the team's 10 saves.
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.
The Mountaineers are 7-5 all-time vs. Canisius, with all 12 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.
EARLIER THIS SEASON VS. THE GOLDEN GRIFFINS
The Mountaineers opened its home season with a series win over Canisius from March 16-18. In its home opener, West Virginia walked off, 10-9 on March 16, as Isaiah Kearns singled home the game-winning run in the ninth. The next day, the Mountaineers shut out the Golden Griffins, 2-0, to win the series. WVU rallied in the ninth inning in Sunday's series finale, but could not complete the sweep in a 4-3 loss.
ON DECK: K-STATE IN TOWN
Up next, West Virginia hosts Kansas State in a three-game series from April 20-22 at Monongalia County Ballpark. The series begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday, April 20, and continues on Saturday at 4 p.m. Sunday's series finale will begin at 1 p.m.
Tickets for all three home games are available at WVUGAME.com, by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, at the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum or on game day at Monongalia County Ballpark.
Friday's promotions include Friday Night Happy Hour, with half-off beverages from 5:30-6:30 p.m., and all fans can play Baseball Bingo. Saturday is a True Blue game and Family Day, where fans can purchase four tickets and receive a $10 concession voucher for just $25. An exclusive WVU baseball t-shirt will be given away to the first 500 fans at Saturday's game, while 3,000 blue shakers also will be given away. Finally, Sunday is the first trading card giveaway of the season, along with Kids Day, postgame autographs and running the bases, with a new Kids Zone Presented by WVU Medicine Children's and Mr. Twister's Balloon Art and Face Painting.
LAST TIME OUT: WEEKEND VS. OSU
West Virginia suffered a series loss to Oklahoma State. OSU won the opener, 7-4, before the Mountaineers evened the series with a 10-7 victory on Saturday. The Cowboys won the series with a 6-4 Sunday victory.
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.
Admission for Wednesday's game vs. Canisius will be free for all fans at Monongalia County Ballpark.
The Mountaineers (16-17) and Golden Griffins (20-11) meet for the fourth time this season, after WVU won a weekend series from March 16-18, 2-1, also at Monongalia County Ballpark.
Like WVU, CC's midweek game vs. Niagara today was canceled.
FOLLOWING ALONG
There are a number of ways to follow along with Wednesday's game, with Dan Zangrilli and Ernie Galusky calling the action.
- The game will feature a free video stream, available on WVUsports.com and the WVU Gameday App. New this season, fans also can watch the video streams via Roku by downloading the West Virginia Mountaineers channel.
- Fans can listen to the game on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on various affiliates throughout the state, while fans across the country can tune in to the broadcasts online at WVUsports.com and on the WVU Gameday App as well as the TuneIn App on their mobile device.
- Direct links to the video stream, 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 can be found on social media by following and connecting with the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @WVUBaseball.
SCOUTING CANISIUS
Canisius comes to Morgantown with a 20-11 record and a 9-3 mark in MAAC play. CC is 12-7 on the road and 3-3 at a neutral site, having played all but six games away from home. The Golden Griffins have won three in a row after a sweep at Iona this weekend.
Conner Morro leads the team with a .363 batting average in 91 at-bats, while Liam Wilson has a team-high 47 hits and a .685 slugging percentage and is second with 30 RBIs and six home runs.
On the mound, Will Frank owns a 0.92 ERA in 11 appearances, while J.P. Stevenson has a team-best six wins and 53 strikeouts while making nine starts. Tyler Smith has earned six of the team's 10 saves.
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.
The Mountaineers are 7-5 all-time vs. Canisius, with all 12 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.
EARLIER THIS SEASON VS. THE GOLDEN GRIFFINS
The Mountaineers opened its home season with a series win over Canisius from March 16-18. In its home opener, West Virginia walked off, 10-9 on March 16, as Isaiah Kearns singled home the game-winning run in the ninth. The next day, the Mountaineers shut out the Golden Griffins, 2-0, to win the series. WVU rallied in the ninth inning in Sunday's series finale, but could not complete the sweep in a 4-3 loss.
- In the opener on March 16, Kearns singled home the game-winning run in the ninth inning of a 10-9 win. In his first at-bat of the game, Kearns singled for his first hit of the season on a 3-2 pitch with two outs. The Mountaineers improve to 4-0 in home openers at Monongalia County Ballpark. CC scored at least one run in each of the first four innings before being held to one run in the final five innings. WVU scored four in the first and two in the second, but trailed 8-6 in the fourth. Kearns' walk-off hit came after Brandon White hit his first career home run in the seventh inning, a three-run shot that gave WVU a 9-8 lead.
- The next day, WVU recorded its first shutout of the year in a 2-0 victory. In a pitcher's duel, sophomore right-hander Alek Manoah had his best start of the season and did not allow a run on three hits in 7.0 innings. He struck out a career-high-tying seven batters. For the Golden Griffins, starter Charlie Sobieraski gave up a two-run home run to Chase Illig in the first inning, but did not allow another run.
- In the finale, WVU rallied with a two-out run in the bottom of the ninth, but stranded runners on the corners in a 4-3 loss. WVU scored a run in the first but gave up two in the third and two in the fourth to fall behind, 4-1. West Virginia pitchers allowed four runs on four hits with 12 walks, while three inning-ending double plays helped to limit the damage.
ON DECK: K-STATE IN TOWN
Up next, West Virginia hosts Kansas State in a three-game series from April 20-22 at Monongalia County Ballpark. The series begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday, April 20, and continues on Saturday at 4 p.m. Sunday's series finale will begin at 1 p.m.
Tickets for all three home games are available at WVUGAME.com, by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, at the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum or on game day at Monongalia County Ballpark.
Friday's promotions include Friday Night Happy Hour, with half-off beverages from 5:30-6:30 p.m., and all fans can play Baseball Bingo. Saturday is a True Blue game and Family Day, where fans can purchase four tickets and receive a $10 concession voucher for just $25. An exclusive WVU baseball t-shirt will be given away to the first 500 fans at Saturday's game, while 3,000 blue shakers also will be given away. Finally, Sunday is the first trading card giveaway of the season, along with Kids Day, postgame autographs and running the bases, with a new Kids Zone Presented by WVU Medicine Children's and Mr. Twister's Balloon Art and Face Painting.
LAST TIME OUT: WEEKEND VS. OSU
West Virginia suffered a series loss to Oklahoma State. OSU won the opener, 7-4, before the Mountaineers evened the series with a 10-7 victory on Saturday. The Cowboys won the series with a 6-4 Sunday victory.
- The Mountaineers' four-game win streak was snapped with a 7-4 loss to Oklahoma State in the series opener on April 13, as OSU scored three in the third and three unearned runs in the fourth, both via three-run home runs. Kyle Gray had a career-high four hits with a home run.
- WVU evened the series the next day with a 10-7 win, thanks to a six-run first inning and a two-run home run by Marques Inman in the eighth. The Mountaineers batted around in the first to take a 6-1 lead and OSU cut WVU's lead to one at 8-7, before Inman's homer. Tyler Doanes drove in three runs on two hits, for his first career RBIs and first multi-hit and multi-RBI game of his career. Kade Strowd pitched 5.0 innings and struck out 10 batters, the second time this season he has notched double-digit strikeouts, while earning the win, and Alek Manoah notched his first save of the year.
- Oklahoma State won Sunday's finale, 6-4, as OSU rallied with three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to stay tied atop the Big 12 standings. Inman had three hits in the loss, his third consecutive multi-hit game.
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.
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