Post by elp525 on May 26, 2010 4:45:05 GMT -5
Wednesday May 26, 2010
by Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sports writer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia meets both friend and foe today in the opening round of the Big East Conference's baseball tournament. The Mountaineers are the No. 8 seed and play conference champion Louisville.
The first pitch at Bright House Field, in Clearwater, Fla., is at 5 p.m.
The No. 10-ranked Cardinals (46-10, 21-6 Big East) swept the Mountaineers in a three-game series April 17-18, but also swept Notre Dame this past weekend to give WVU a chance to qualify for the tournament despite losing records in conference play (10-17) and overall (27-28).
The Mountaineers won nine of their final 11 games - after losing nine of 11 before that - but jeopardized their postseason chances with a 5-4 loss to Villanova last Thursday.
"We knew we had the best chance to get in if we swept them because that meant Notre Dame would have to beat Louisville in two out of three," WVU Coach Greg Van Zant said. "It's hard to beat Louisville in two out of three because Louisville's a top-10 team and really good."
The Cardinals proved to be just that and beat the Fighting Irish in the first two games and in their last at-bat. They were still unlikely to get past Connecticut (43-12, 20-6) and to the top of the Big East standings with the Huskies, ranked No. 19, playing at home against Seton Hall, the 11th-place team in the 12-team conference.
"Connecticut has a far superior team," Van Zant said. "Connecticut is legit and all Connecticut had to do was beat Seton Hall. What happened? Seton Hall won, 3-2. That really helped us because that meant the last game Louisville played would have meaning and obviously Louisville was going to bear down and get after it to win the conference."
The Cardinals scored the first 13 runs of a 13-3 win to clinch a second straight Big East regular-season title, but also welcome the Mountaineers to the conference tournament. The winner plays the USF-St. John's winner at 8 p.m. Thursday. The loser plays the other loser at 5 p.m. in the double-elimination format.
Louisville's sweep was seemingly one-sided sweep last month and WVU was outscored 30-11 as Louisville batted .390 (48-for-123) with six home runs, a .610 slugging percentage and all runs scored on RBI.
Offensive production was an issue for WVU earlier this season. Before the final 11 games the team was batting more than 30 points below its current .307 team average. The Mountaineers are hitting .333 over their last 11 games with 16 home runs, 76 RBI and a .543 slugging percentage. They're averaging 7.5 runs per game.
It's been a lengthy process, although one led from start to finish by Jedd Gyorko and Grant Buckner. Gyorko leads WVU with a .377 average, 17 home runs, 53 RBI and a .724 slugging percentage. Buckner, from Elkview and a Herbert Hoover High graduate, bats .365 with eight home runs and 50 RBI.
What has helped has been the growth of players to help ease the loss of Dan DiBartolomeo (.439 average last season) and freshman T.J. Kuban, two of the projected nine best hitters, early on to injury.
In addition, the team switched catchers after struggles containing the running game, but the replacement, Kevin Griffin, had the walk-off home run in the regular-season finale.
The Cardinals have won their past six and 17 of 21 since sweeping WVU. They hit .319 as a team with 81 home runs and 154 other extra-base hits.
by Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sports writer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia meets both friend and foe today in the opening round of the Big East Conference's baseball tournament. The Mountaineers are the No. 8 seed and play conference champion Louisville.
The first pitch at Bright House Field, in Clearwater, Fla., is at 5 p.m.
The No. 10-ranked Cardinals (46-10, 21-6 Big East) swept the Mountaineers in a three-game series April 17-18, but also swept Notre Dame this past weekend to give WVU a chance to qualify for the tournament despite losing records in conference play (10-17) and overall (27-28).
The Mountaineers won nine of their final 11 games - after losing nine of 11 before that - but jeopardized their postseason chances with a 5-4 loss to Villanova last Thursday.
"We knew we had the best chance to get in if we swept them because that meant Notre Dame would have to beat Louisville in two out of three," WVU Coach Greg Van Zant said. "It's hard to beat Louisville in two out of three because Louisville's a top-10 team and really good."
The Cardinals proved to be just that and beat the Fighting Irish in the first two games and in their last at-bat. They were still unlikely to get past Connecticut (43-12, 20-6) and to the top of the Big East standings with the Huskies, ranked No. 19, playing at home against Seton Hall, the 11th-place team in the 12-team conference.
"Connecticut has a far superior team," Van Zant said. "Connecticut is legit and all Connecticut had to do was beat Seton Hall. What happened? Seton Hall won, 3-2. That really helped us because that meant the last game Louisville played would have meaning and obviously Louisville was going to bear down and get after it to win the conference."
The Cardinals scored the first 13 runs of a 13-3 win to clinch a second straight Big East regular-season title, but also welcome the Mountaineers to the conference tournament. The winner plays the USF-St. John's winner at 8 p.m. Thursday. The loser plays the other loser at 5 p.m. in the double-elimination format.
Louisville's sweep was seemingly one-sided sweep last month and WVU was outscored 30-11 as Louisville batted .390 (48-for-123) with six home runs, a .610 slugging percentage and all runs scored on RBI.
Offensive production was an issue for WVU earlier this season. Before the final 11 games the team was batting more than 30 points below its current .307 team average. The Mountaineers are hitting .333 over their last 11 games with 16 home runs, 76 RBI and a .543 slugging percentage. They're averaging 7.5 runs per game.
It's been a lengthy process, although one led from start to finish by Jedd Gyorko and Grant Buckner. Gyorko leads WVU with a .377 average, 17 home runs, 53 RBI and a .724 slugging percentage. Buckner, from Elkview and a Herbert Hoover High graduate, bats .365 with eight home runs and 50 RBI.
What has helped has been the growth of players to help ease the loss of Dan DiBartolomeo (.439 average last season) and freshman T.J. Kuban, two of the projected nine best hitters, early on to injury.
In addition, the team switched catchers after struggles containing the running game, but the replacement, Kevin Griffin, had the walk-off home run in the regular-season finale.
The Cardinals have won their past six and 17 of 21 since sweeping WVU. They hit .319 as a team with 81 home runs and 154 other extra-base hits.
