University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn drops two at West Virginia
4/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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MORGANTOWN, WV – The University of Connecticut baseball team suffered a pair of close losses Saturday to West Virginia in a BIG EAST doubleheader at Hawley Field. The Mountaineers took the first game 5-3 and held on for the 8-7 win in the nightcap.
Connecticut now stands 12-11-0 overall and 6-3-0 in the BIG EAST. West Virginia improved to 15-10-0 overall and 6-3 in the conference.
After falling behind 8-2 in the second game, UConn rallied in the top of the ninth to stage a late comeback. Freshman Mike McDonough (Abington, MA) started off the inning with a double, though the next two UConn batters were retired. Senior Cy Hess (Oakdale, CT) walked and then scored from first on a double by junior Brett Burnham (South Windsor, CT) that scored a pair of runs. Junior Dan Trubia (Tolland, CT) drew a walk, and a double by junior Peter Soteropoulos (Peabody, MA) scored Burnham to make it 8-5.
Sophomore Mike Mocerino (Northboro, MA) kept the rally alive by driving in two runs with a single to make it 8-7, though that was as close as the Huskies would get. West Virginia’s Chris Amedro came in and got sophomore Mike Leonard (Vernon, CT) to ground out to end the game, picking up his first save of the season in the process. UConn stranded nine runners in the game and left the bases loaded in the seventh.
The Huskies jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first game thanks to a home run by Hess–the first of two on the day for the team captain–and a sacrifice fly by Trubia. The Mountaineers tied things up in the third and took a 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Jon Gorrie (Northboro, MA) tied the game in the fifth when his ground out to second base brought home junior Tyler Stefkovich (Westport, CT), though West Virginia took the lead for good in the next inning with a pair of runs. Connecticut didn’t help its own cause, committing three errors in the game that led to two unearned runs.
Junior left-hander Jesse Carlson (Kensington, CT) went the distance in the first game but picked up his first loss of the season. He gave up five runs on five hits and struck out two in six innings of work. Senior right-hander Pat Sperone (Sicklerville, NJ) suffered the loss in the second game, going 6.2 innings while allowing six runs on eight hits and striking out four.
Connecticut will look to salvage the final game of the series on Sunday against West Virginia. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at Hawley Field.
Game 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E UConn 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 7 3 WVU 0 0 2 1 0 2 X 5 5 1Win: Biggs (5-3).
Loss: Carlson (5-1).
Save: None.
E: UC Burnham, Mocerino 2; WV Blevins.
DP: UC 1; WV 1.
LOB: UC 3; WV 3.
2B: UC Soteropoulos, Mocerino; WV D’Amico.
HR: UC Hess.
SH: UC McDonough; WV McCabe, Psomas.
SF: UC Trubia.
WP: WV Biggs.
Batteries: UC Jesse Carlson (7) and Mike Leonard; WV Billy Biggs (7) and Travis D’Amico.
Game 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E UConn 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 7 9 0 WVU 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 5 X 8 11 2
Win: Ewen (3-0).
Loss: Sperone (2-3).
Save: Amedro (1).
E: WV Grimm, McCabe.
DP: UC 1; WV 2.
LOB: UC 9; WV 7.
2B: UC Burnham, Soteropoulos, Leonard, McDonough; WV McCabe, Frownfelter.
HR: UC Hess.
HBP: UC McDonough.
SH: UC Mocerino; WV Clinton, Psomas, Rine.
SB: WV Frownfelter, Rine.
CS: UC Soteropoulos.
Batteries: UC Pat Sperone (7.1), Mike James (0.2) and Mike Leonard; WV Zac Cline (6.2), Clayton Ewan (2), Chris Amedro (0.1) and Travis D’Amico.
