Wednesday, May 8
Blacksburg, Va.
6:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
at
Virginia Tech
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Road Trip Begins at Virginia Tech for No. 20 WVU
May 07, 2019 05:16 PM | Baseball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 20 West Virginia University baseball team begins a five-game roadtrip with a matchup at Virginia Tech on Wednesday, May 8, at 6 p.m. ET, at English Field at Union Park in Blacksburg, Virginia.
The Mountaineers (28-17) are coming off just their second Big 12 series loss of the season, which snapped a stretch of 13 wins in 17 games and five consecutive series victories. West Virginia walked off in the finale against TCU, 6-5, as six of WVU's last seven game-winning hits have come in the ninth inning or later.
West Virginia is ranked for the fourth consecutive week and checks in as high as No. 20 in this week's Perfect Game poll. WVU also is No. 21 in the NCBWA and Baseball America rankings, No. 22 in the D1Baseball top-25 and No. 23 in the Coaches Poll.
The Hokies (25-24) are coming off a series loss to Boston College and are in the middle of a seven-game homestand. VT's series against BC ended with a 5-2 loss on Monday night.
A week after one of the most dominating pitching performances in program history, junior left-hander Nick Snyder (6-1, 1.93 ERA) gets the start for WVU. In last week's 2-0 win over Marshall, Snyder was one strike away from a no hitter and struck out 16 batters in the complete-game shutout. He was recognized as the Perfect Game National Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday. Snyder will face VT senior right-hander Luke Scherzer (3-3, 3.58 ERA).
Statistically, the West Virginia pitching staff is No. 12 nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.45), No. 13 in strikeouts per nine innings (10.0), No. 29 in ERA (3.64), No. 30 in shutouts (4) and No. 31 in WHIP (1.29). WVU also is second in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.40). Additionally, the Mountaineers' 81 stolen bases are No. 28 in the country and the most in the Big 12.
Individually, junior right-handed pitcher Alek Manoah is No. 8 nationally in strikeouts (108), No. 24 in WHIP (0.93), No. 27 in complete games (2), No. 33 in hits allowed per nine innings (6.10), No. 38 with in ERA (2.07), No. 41 in strikeouts per nine innings (11.76) and No. 43 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.14). Junior center fielder Brandon White is second in the Big 12 in stolen bases (21), while junior right-handed reliever Sam Kessler is third in saves (7), sophomore second baseman Tyler Doanes is third in stolen bases (17) and freshman shortstop Tevin Tucker is third in sacrifice bunts (7). Additionally, Manoah and Snyder are tied for third in the league with six wins.
FOLLOWING ALONG
There are a number of ways to follow along with Wednesday night's action.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH
Virginia Tech enters Wednesday's game with a 25-24 record and a 13-12 mark at home. While the Hokies have lost six of their last seven games following a series loss to Boston College, they own an 11-3 record in midweek contests.
Jack Owens leads the team with a .329 batting average, while Kevin Madden has a team-best 55 hits and Kerry Carpenter paces the squad with 43 RBIs, nine home runs and 10 doubles. On the mound, Ryan Okuda's 1.42 ERA leads the team and Ian Seymour has 74 strikeouts and a team-high-tying four wins.
John Szefc is in his second season with the Hokies and owns a 46-57 mark in Blacksburg. He came to VT from Maryland, where he led the Terrapins to three NCAA Tournament appearances. That included a matchup against West Virginia in 2017, where WVU won both contests against UMD.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE HOKIES
West Virginia is 35-53-1 all-time against Virginia Tech, though the Mountaineers hold a 4-1 advantage in coach Randy Mazey's seven seasons and are 9-4 in the series since 2003. The teams have met every season since 2014, and WVU has won three in a row, including a 10-5 home victory in 2018.
In last year's win, the Mountaineers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead as every Mountaineer had at least one hit, seven drove in one or more runs and eight scored at least one run. Seven WVU starters had multiple hits or multiple RBIs in the contest. Tristen Hudson earned the win on the mound and allowed a run on two hits with a walk in 1.2 innings in relief.
LAST TIME OUT: SERIES LOSS TO TCU
West Virginia is coming off a series loss to TCU, capped by a 6-5, walk-off win in the finale.
ON DECK: FINAL BIG 12 SERIES
WVU travels to Kansas State for its final Big 12 series of the season this weekend, from May 10-12 in Manhattan, Kansas. The series commences on Friday, May 10, at 7 p.m. ET, and continues on Saturday, May 11, at 5 p.m. ET. The finale at Tointon Family Stadium is slated for Sunday, at noon ET.
Single game tickets and flex plan mini-packages for the 2019 season are on sale now. Fans can join the excitement of WVU baseball and support the Mountaineers by purchasing tickets at WVUGAME.com, calling 1-800-WVU GAME or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The Mountaineers (28-17) are coming off just their second Big 12 series loss of the season, which snapped a stretch of 13 wins in 17 games and five consecutive series victories. West Virginia walked off in the finale against TCU, 6-5, as six of WVU's last seven game-winning hits have come in the ninth inning or later.
West Virginia is ranked for the fourth consecutive week and checks in as high as No. 20 in this week's Perfect Game poll. WVU also is No. 21 in the NCBWA and Baseball America rankings, No. 22 in the D1Baseball top-25 and No. 23 in the Coaches Poll.
The Hokies (25-24) are coming off a series loss to Boston College and are in the middle of a seven-game homestand. VT's series against BC ended with a 5-2 loss on Monday night.
A week after one of the most dominating pitching performances in program history, junior left-hander Nick Snyder (6-1, 1.93 ERA) gets the start for WVU. In last week's 2-0 win over Marshall, Snyder was one strike away from a no hitter and struck out 16 batters in the complete-game shutout. He was recognized as the Perfect Game National Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday. Snyder will face VT senior right-hander Luke Scherzer (3-3, 3.58 ERA).
Statistically, the West Virginia pitching staff is No. 12 nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.45), No. 13 in strikeouts per nine innings (10.0), No. 29 in ERA (3.64), No. 30 in shutouts (4) and No. 31 in WHIP (1.29). WVU also is second in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.40). Additionally, the Mountaineers' 81 stolen bases are No. 28 in the country and the most in the Big 12.
Individually, junior right-handed pitcher Alek Manoah is No. 8 nationally in strikeouts (108), No. 24 in WHIP (0.93), No. 27 in complete games (2), No. 33 in hits allowed per nine innings (6.10), No. 38 with in ERA (2.07), No. 41 in strikeouts per nine innings (11.76) and No. 43 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.14). Junior center fielder Brandon White is second in the Big 12 in stolen bases (21), while junior right-handed reliever Sam Kessler is third in saves (7), sophomore second baseman Tyler Doanes is third in stolen bases (17) and freshman shortstop Tevin Tucker is third in sacrifice bunts (7). Additionally, Manoah and Snyder are tied for third in the league with six wins.
FOLLOWING ALONG
There are a number of ways to follow along with Wednesday night's action.
- The game will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra and WatchESPN to subscribers.
- Fans can listen to the game on the Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College on various affiliates throughout the state, while fans across the country can tune into the broadcast online at WVUsports.com/Watch and on the WVU Gameday and TuneIn Radio Apps.
- Live stats can be found at HokieSports.com.
- Direct links to video and radio streams and live stats are available on the baseball schedule page on WVUsports.com.
- Additional behind-the-scenes updates, news and notes can be found on social media by following and connecting with the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @WVUBaseball.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH
Virginia Tech enters Wednesday's game with a 25-24 record and a 13-12 mark at home. While the Hokies have lost six of their last seven games following a series loss to Boston College, they own an 11-3 record in midweek contests.
Jack Owens leads the team with a .329 batting average, while Kevin Madden has a team-best 55 hits and Kerry Carpenter paces the squad with 43 RBIs, nine home runs and 10 doubles. On the mound, Ryan Okuda's 1.42 ERA leads the team and Ian Seymour has 74 strikeouts and a team-high-tying four wins.
John Szefc is in his second season with the Hokies and owns a 46-57 mark in Blacksburg. He came to VT from Maryland, where he led the Terrapins to three NCAA Tournament appearances. That included a matchup against West Virginia in 2017, where WVU won both contests against UMD.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE HOKIES
West Virginia is 35-53-1 all-time against Virginia Tech, though the Mountaineers hold a 4-1 advantage in coach Randy Mazey's seven seasons and are 9-4 in the series since 2003. The teams have met every season since 2014, and WVU has won three in a row, including a 10-5 home victory in 2018.
In last year's win, the Mountaineers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead as every Mountaineer had at least one hit, seven drove in one or more runs and eight scored at least one run. Seven WVU starters had multiple hits or multiple RBIs in the contest. Tristen Hudson earned the win on the mound and allowed a run on two hits with a walk in 1.2 innings in relief.
LAST TIME OUT: SERIES LOSS TO TCU
West Virginia is coming off a series loss to TCU, capped by a 6-5, walk-off win in the finale.
- West Virginia lost the opener on May 3, 14-5, as the Horned Frogs used a 10-run seventh inning to pull away. Manoah suffered the loss, and allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits with five strikeouts and four walks in 6.0 innings, and had just his third non-quality start in 12 starts this season. Senior right fielder Darius Hill homered in the first inning, and senior shortstop Andrew Zitel hit his second home run of the season in the ninth inning and had two hits off the bench.
- TCU claimed the series victory with a 6-1 win on Saturday, as WVU was held to one run on four hits. The Mountaineer bullpen held TCU to one run on four hits in the final 5.2 innings.
- WVU walked off in the finale, as Hill hit a two-run home run to cap a three-run ninth inning in a 6-5 come-from-behind victory. West Virginia scored five runs in the final three innings, beginning with two in the seventh to help erase a 4-1 deficit. TCU scored one in the top of the ninth to make it 5-3, but junior first baseman Kevin Brophy homered in the bottom half before Hill's two-out heroics on a 3-2 pitch.
ON DECK: FINAL BIG 12 SERIES
WVU travels to Kansas State for its final Big 12 series of the season this weekend, from May 10-12 in Manhattan, Kansas. The series commences on Friday, May 10, at 7 p.m. ET, and continues on Saturday, May 11, at 5 p.m. ET. The finale at Tointon Family Stadium is slated for Sunday, at noon ET.
Single game tickets and flex plan mini-packages for the 2019 season are on sale now. Fans can join the excitement of WVU baseball and support the Mountaineers by purchasing tickets at WVUGAME.com, calling 1-800-WVU GAME or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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