Baseball: Marist Edges Mountaineers

By Grant Dovey for WVUsports.com
February 26, 2011 03:06 PM

T.J. Kuban

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team produced a season-high eight runs, but it was not enough as the Mountaineers were defeated by Marist, 9-8, on Saturday afternoon at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C., as part of the Hughes Brothers Challenge.

Both teams combined for 17 runs scored, 21 hits and just four innings where neither team scored a run. WVU’s three-through-six spots in the batting order combined for six of the Mountaineers’ eight hits. Grant Buckner went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two walks. Brady Wilson finished 2-for-4, while Dan DiBartolomeo finished with two runs scored. Matt Frazer and T.J. Kuban each had two RBIs, with Kuban’s coming on his first career home run.

The Mountaineers (2-3) finished with eight runs on eight hits and no errors, while Marist (3-2) had nine runs, 11 hits and four errors.

Starter Harrison Musgrave finished with a no decision in four innings pitched. Musgrave allowed eight hits and seven earned runs, while striking out five. Marcus Broadwater (0-1) provided four innings of long relief, taking the loss. Broadwater surrendered five hits and two earned runs.

Marist used five pitchers, with reliever Sean McKeown (1-0) taking the win with two innings of no-run and no-hit ball. Starter Chad Gallagher pitched three innings and gave up seven hits and four earned runs.

The Red Foxes were paced by Mike Orefice, Ricky Pacione and Michael Gallic who all went 3-for-4. Orefice had two runs scored, while Pacione had one run and two RBIs. Gallic scored a run and stole a base.

After giving up four runs in the first inning the previous day, the Mountaineers struck first against Marist scoring four runs on three hits in the top of the first. Frazer got the scoring started with a fielder’s choice that knocked in DiBartolomeo, who originally reached on a fielder’s choice. Matt Malloy followed suit with a single that drove in Buckner. Frazer eventually scored on a wild pitch, with Malloy then advancing to third on a throwing error by the catcher. The Red Foxes finished the inning with four errors.

Marist began to make a comeback in the bottom half of the inning after Musgrave was able to retire the first two batters. Following back-to-back singles from Pacione and Bryce Nugent, Jon Schwind homered to left field, shortening the WVU lead to 4-3.

WVU added four more runs in the second, third and fourth innings. The lone run in the second came from DiBartolomeo who reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base and then was driven in on a Buckner single to left. Kuban hit his first career home run in the top of the third to right field, driving in Justin McDavid, who reached on a single up the middle the pitch before. Mark Dvoroznak scored with two outs in the top of fourth courtesy of a Frazer single to right field.

By the end of the fourth inning, Marist was able to cut the West Virginia lead to 8-7. Pacione doubled down the left field line that scored in Orefice in the bottom of the third and then had three runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth. Gallic opened the frame with a single up the middle, followed by a walk to Eric Helmrich. Welsh then homered to left center, driving in Gallic and Helmich. Jones was able to regain composure and get out of the inning without further damage.

After a rare occurrence of no runs by either team in the fifth inning, Marist took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. After a Mark Stuckey single up the middle and a walk to Orefice, Pacione had an RBI single up the middle, driving in Stuckey. Nugent followed with a fielder’s choice RBI that drove in Orefice from third to give Marist a 9-8 lead.

Marist was looking for more in the bottom of the seventh, but Broadwater was able to pitch his way out of a jam, forcing Pat Welsh to line out to second and Stuckey to groundout to third to strand Gallic on third base.

West Virginia mounted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth with DiBartolomeo and Buckner drawing walks with one out, however Marist’s Kevin McCarthy was able to force Frazer into a groundout and pinch-hitter Chris Rasky into a fly-out to left field to preserve the save.

WVU returns to the field tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., against host UNC Wilmington in the final game of the challenge.

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