Post by elp525 on May 16, 2011 5:21:46 GMT -5
Monday May 16, 2011
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN -- The details of Feb. 27 are vague to Grant Buckner. The day remains indistinguishable alongside all the other days like it for West Virginia's senior shortstop this season.
"I don't remember anything about the game," he said. "We've played, what, 47, 48 others now?"
Indeed, the Mountaineers are now 50 games into the season following the weekend's fruitless trip to Pitt, where the Panthers won all three games and outscored the WVU 27-9.
Pitt moved into third place and unseated the Mountaineers, who slipped into a tie for fourth. They've lost four in a row and eight of 11.
Buckner, the Elkview native and former Herbert Hoover star, was 4-for-12 in the series. He scored three runs, but didn't drive in any. Still, he's been on base in 44 consecutive games, the longest streak at WVU since at least 2001 and one that dates all the way back to the season's only exception.
Buckner was 0-for-4 and never got on in an 8-0 loss at UNC-Wilmington Feb. 27. It was WVU's sixth game of the season.
Delaware's Pat Dameron and LSU's Mikie Mahtook lead college baseball by reaching in all 52 games this season. Their streaks date back to last season with Mahtook adding 14 more games and Dameron two more.
"I don't think too many teams outwork us because we put a lot of time in in practice," Buckner said. "I've been on a good roll luckily. I've been able to get hot and lately I've been fortunate to keep it going."
Buckner, who had an 18-game hitting streak and a 30-game on-base streak last season, would like to put an end to a second surprising streak.
He has never been drafted.
Not out of high school, where he hit 24 home runs and drove in 132 runs in three years and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2006.
Not after his redshirt sophomore season, when he batted .325 with five home runs, 27 extra-base hits and 45 RBI.
Not even after the 2010 season, when he hit .363 (.412 in Big East play) with 24 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games and finished with eight home runs, 50 RBI and a 1.019 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage).
"I thought it was going to happen last year," Buckner said. "I was pretty down about that for several weeks, but I said, 'It could be worse. I could be done.' I knew I had one more season left at West Virginia and I wanted to make it the best possible. So far, so good."
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN -- The details of Feb. 27 are vague to Grant Buckner. The day remains indistinguishable alongside all the other days like it for West Virginia's senior shortstop this season.
"I don't remember anything about the game," he said. "We've played, what, 47, 48 others now?"
Indeed, the Mountaineers are now 50 games into the season following the weekend's fruitless trip to Pitt, where the Panthers won all three games and outscored the WVU 27-9.
Pitt moved into third place and unseated the Mountaineers, who slipped into a tie for fourth. They've lost four in a row and eight of 11.
Buckner, the Elkview native and former Herbert Hoover star, was 4-for-12 in the series. He scored three runs, but didn't drive in any. Still, he's been on base in 44 consecutive games, the longest streak at WVU since at least 2001 and one that dates all the way back to the season's only exception.
Buckner was 0-for-4 and never got on in an 8-0 loss at UNC-Wilmington Feb. 27. It was WVU's sixth game of the season.
Delaware's Pat Dameron and LSU's Mikie Mahtook lead college baseball by reaching in all 52 games this season. Their streaks date back to last season with Mahtook adding 14 more games and Dameron two more.
"I don't think too many teams outwork us because we put a lot of time in in practice," Buckner said. "I've been on a good roll luckily. I've been able to get hot and lately I've been fortunate to keep it going."
Buckner, who had an 18-game hitting streak and a 30-game on-base streak last season, would like to put an end to a second surprising streak.
He has never been drafted.
Not out of high school, where he hit 24 home runs and drove in 132 runs in three years and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2006.
Not after his redshirt sophomore season, when he batted .325 with five home runs, 27 extra-base hits and 45 RBI.
Not even after the 2010 season, when he hit .363 (.412 in Big East play) with 24 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games and finished with eight home runs, 50 RBI and a 1.019 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage).
"I thought it was going to happen last year," Buckner said. "I was pretty down about that for several weeks, but I said, 'It could be worse. I could be done.' I knew I had one more season left at West Virginia and I wanted to make it the best possible. So far, so good."
