Backyard Brawl Win Extends Nation’s Longest Winning Streak
PITTSBURGH (May 17, 2016) – The West Virginia University baseball team extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 10 games with a 10-4 victory in the Backyard Brawl at Pitt on Tuesday evening.
The Mountaineers (32-19) won the 192nd edition of the rivalry to improve to 104-88 all-time against the Panthers (25-24). The victory was WVU’s 10th in a row, the longest winning streak in the country and West Virginia’s longest since 2008. The Mountaineers enter the final weekend of the regular season having won 13 of their last 14 games.
Tuesday, it was a mix of power and small ball that propelled West Virginia. Sophomore left fielder Kyle Davis and junior Ray Guerrini each hit home runs for two of the Mountaineers’ seven extra-base hits. WVU added six bunt singles, including three perfectly-executed safety squeezes.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence and the team has bought into what we’re talking to them about,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “Before the game, we told them we’re on a winning streak, but you can’t walk around like you’ve already won the national championship. You have to keep acting the way you did when the winning streak started. We started winning games because we started playing hard, we started doing good things at home plate, on defense and on the mound. After you win 10 games, you have to keep doing what you did to get you there, and we came out doing it in fine fashion today.
“We had six or seven bunts that helped us score runs, and as soon as the guys get on with the bunts, guys start slamming extra-base hits to score. I really like where we are right now.”
Five Mountaineers had multiple hits, including four-hit days from freshmen Ivan Vera and Jimmy Galusky. Fellow freshman Kyle Gray had two hits and three RBIs, while junior Jackson Cramer and Guerrini each had two hits and two RBIs.
Senior left-hander Ross Vance pitched 3.2 strong innings in relief to earn his sixth win of the season. Vance allowed just one hit with four strikeouts and four walks. It was his first relief appearance of the season and second in as many years.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early lead thanks to a three-run second inning. Vera led off the inning with a triple to the wall in right-center field. Cramer followed with a double to left-center to easily score Vera for the first run of the game. A single by Guerrini and a walk to senior center fielder KC Huth loaded the bases.
Gray followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Cramer and send Guerrini to third. That set up Galusky, who laid down a perfect squeeze bunt. Guerrini scored on the play to give West Virginia a 3-0 lead.
After a freshman right-handed starter Braden Zarbnisky added two strikeouts in the bottom of the second, the Mountaineers struck again in the top of the third with Davis’ leadoff home run, his team-high-tying eighth of the season and 12th of his career.
The Panthers answered with four runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 4-4. The inning began with a walk and a hit-by-pitch and was helped by a throwing error by Zarbnisky, two hits and another walk. A bases-loaded, three-RBI double by Alex Kowalczyk was followed by an RBI single.
West Virginia wasted no time in responding though with a run in the top of the fourth to regain the lead at 5-4. With one out, Galusky reached on a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error on the play. A wild pitch sent Galusky to third, and he scored the eventual winning run on Zarbnisky’s groundout.
Vance made his first relief appearance of the season in the fourth inning and proceeded to shut down the Panther offense. He retired Pitt in order in the fourth and again in the fifth. He walked two but did not allow a hit in the sixth.
Vance got into some trouble in the seventh and loaded the bases with two outs when sophomore righty BJ Myers came in and got a groundout to end the inning.
The Mountaineers added an insurance run in the top of the eight in the form of Guerrini’s ninth career home run. The no-doubter to lead off the inning easily cleared the left field wall to give WVU a 6-4 edge. It was Guerrini’s fifth of the season and eighth of his career.
West Virginia added four runs in the ninth to put the game away. A walk and back-to-back bunt singles loaded the bases for Cramer, who hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the first run of the inning. Guerrini followed with a perfect safety squeeze to score freshman right fielder Darius Hill.
With two outs and two runners on, Gray cleared the bases with a double that bounced off the wall down the right field line. The ball came just shy of clearing the wall for his first career home run, but it scored two to give WVU a 10-4 lead.
Senior righty Blake Smith came in to pitch a scoreless ninth inning to secure WVU’s 104th Backyard Brawl win.
WVU concludes the regular season at No. 5 Texas Tech from May 19-21 before the Big 12 Championship begins on May 25. First pitch in Lubbock, Texas, is set for Thursday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The series continues on May 20 at 3 p.m. and concludes with the regular-season finale on May 21 at 3 p.m.
NOTES: WVU improved to 32-19 on the season, 12-9 on the road and 21-10 in non-conference action … West Virginia has won 10 in a row, the nation’s longest active winning streak and the team’s longest since an 11-game streak in 2008 … The Mountaineers improved to 104-88 all-time against Pitt, 7-4 since 2012 and 40-48 at Pitt … Sophomore Kyle Davis hit his team-high-tying eighth home run of the season and 12th of his career in the third inning … Junior Ray Guerrini hit his sixth homer of the season and ninth of his career in the eighth inning … Senior Ross Vance made his first relief appearance of the season and earned his sixth win … The Mountaineers scored first for the 30th time this season, improving to 24-6 when scoring first.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
PITTSBURGH (May 17, 2016) – The West Virginia University baseball team extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 10 games with a 10-4 victory in the Backyard Brawl at Pitt on Tuesday evening.
The Mountaineers (32-19) won the 192nd edition of the rivalry to improve to 104-88 all-time against the Panthers (25-24). The victory was WVU’s 10th in a row, the longest winning streak in the country and West Virginia’s longest since 2008. The Mountaineers enter the final weekend of the regular season having won 13 of their last 14 games.
Tuesday, it was a mix of power and small ball that propelled West Virginia. Sophomore left fielder Kyle Davis and junior Ray Guerrini each hit home runs for two of the Mountaineers’ seven extra-base hits. WVU added six bunt singles, including three perfectly-executed safety squeezes.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence and the team has bought into what we’re talking to them about,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “Before the game, we told them we’re on a winning streak, but you can’t walk around like you’ve already won the national championship. You have to keep acting the way you did when the winning streak started. We started winning games because we started playing hard, we started doing good things at home plate, on defense and on the mound. After you win 10 games, you have to keep doing what you did to get you there, and we came out doing it in fine fashion today.
“We had six or seven bunts that helped us score runs, and as soon as the guys get on with the bunts, guys start slamming extra-base hits to score. I really like where we are right now.”
Five Mountaineers had multiple hits, including four-hit days from freshmen Ivan Vera and Jimmy Galusky. Fellow freshman Kyle Gray had two hits and three RBIs, while junior Jackson Cramer and Guerrini each had two hits and two RBIs.
Senior left-hander Ross Vance pitched 3.2 strong innings in relief to earn his sixth win of the season. Vance allowed just one hit with four strikeouts and four walks. It was his first relief appearance of the season and second in as many years.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early lead thanks to a three-run second inning. Vera led off the inning with a triple to the wall in right-center field. Cramer followed with a double to left-center to easily score Vera for the first run of the game. A single by Guerrini and a walk to senior center fielder KC Huth loaded the bases.
Gray followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Cramer and send Guerrini to third. That set up Galusky, who laid down a perfect squeeze bunt. Guerrini scored on the play to give West Virginia a 3-0 lead.
After a freshman right-handed starter Braden Zarbnisky added two strikeouts in the bottom of the second, the Mountaineers struck again in the top of the third with Davis’ leadoff home run, his team-high-tying eighth of the season and 12th of his career.
The Panthers answered with four runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 4-4. The inning began with a walk and a hit-by-pitch and was helped by a throwing error by Zarbnisky, two hits and another walk. A bases-loaded, three-RBI double by Alex Kowalczyk was followed by an RBI single.
West Virginia wasted no time in responding though with a run in the top of the fourth to regain the lead at 5-4. With one out, Galusky reached on a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error on the play. A wild pitch sent Galusky to third, and he scored the eventual winning run on Zarbnisky’s groundout.
Vance made his first relief appearance of the season in the fourth inning and proceeded to shut down the Panther offense. He retired Pitt in order in the fourth and again in the fifth. He walked two but did not allow a hit in the sixth.
Vance got into some trouble in the seventh and loaded the bases with two outs when sophomore righty BJ Myers came in and got a groundout to end the inning.
The Mountaineers added an insurance run in the top of the eight in the form of Guerrini’s ninth career home run. The no-doubter to lead off the inning easily cleared the left field wall to give WVU a 6-4 edge. It was Guerrini’s fifth of the season and eighth of his career.
West Virginia added four runs in the ninth to put the game away. A walk and back-to-back bunt singles loaded the bases for Cramer, who hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the first run of the inning. Guerrini followed with a perfect safety squeeze to score freshman right fielder Darius Hill.
With two outs and two runners on, Gray cleared the bases with a double that bounced off the wall down the right field line. The ball came just shy of clearing the wall for his first career home run, but it scored two to give WVU a 10-4 lead.
Senior righty Blake Smith came in to pitch a scoreless ninth inning to secure WVU’s 104th Backyard Brawl win.
WVU concludes the regular season at No. 5 Texas Tech from May 19-21 before the Big 12 Championship begins on May 25. First pitch in Lubbock, Texas, is set for Thursday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The series continues on May 20 at 3 p.m. and concludes with the regular-season finale on May 21 at 3 p.m.
NOTES: WVU improved to 32-19 on the season, 12-9 on the road and 21-10 in non-conference action … West Virginia has won 10 in a row, the nation’s longest active winning streak and the team’s longest since an 11-game streak in 2008 … The Mountaineers improved to 104-88 all-time against Pitt, 7-4 since 2012 and 40-48 at Pitt … Sophomore Kyle Davis hit his team-high-tying eighth home run of the season and 12th of his career in the third inning … Junior Ray Guerrini hit his sixth homer of the season and ninth of his career in the eighth inning … Senior Ross Vance made his first relief appearance of the season and earned his sixth win … The Mountaineers scored first for the 30th time this season, improving to 24-6 when scoring first.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
