WVU goes 3-1 on road trip to Florida in first weekend of the season

Questions surrounded the group going into its opening weekend, but the West Virginia baseball team came out strong on its road trip to Florida.

While competing in what will be their final Big Ten/Big East Challenge, the Mountaineers (3-1) earned consecutive wins over Northwestern, Penn State and Iowa before falling to Michigan in their final game Sunday.

Head coach Greg Van Zant was thrilled by the performance of his young and previously unproven squad.

"It was a tremendous weekend for us," Van Zant said. "We found a way to win three close games, ran out of steam on that last one. You never know how wins and losses are going to turn out, so I was extremely pleased to get three out of four wins over the first weekend."

In its Friday season opener, WVU led early and never trailed Northwestern, registering a 7-3 victory.

Northwestern out-hit West Virginia 13-10, but ground balls and double plays kept coming and keeping the Mountaineers out of trouble.

Sophomore Corey Walter started on the hill, allowing nine hits and two runs in 4.2 innings of work.

Junior Danny Dierdorff earned his first career win in relief of Walter, going 4.1, giving up only one run off four hits.

Meanwhile, the offensive firepower was supplied by sophomore first baseman Ryan McBroom's 3-for-5, two-run, one-RBI day.

Junior shortstop John Polonius and sophomore left fielder Matt Frazer combined for four hits, four RBIs and a run.

Freshman catcher Max Nogay went 1-for-2, walked once and scored twice in his first collegiate game, and his first game behind the plate.

The Weirton, W.Va., native caught all three of WVU's wins during the weekend while replacing suspended junior catcher Matt Malloy.

"That's the real story of the weekend," Van Zant said. "Max catching the first three games of his career and blocking balls like he's done it all his life was tremendous. He's a very intelligent kid and has looked great behind the plate."

The defense continued to step up for the Mountaineers in game two of the weekend as West Virginia topped Penn State, 4-1, on Saturday.

No errors were made in the game, and the Nittany Lions held a slight advantage, 7-6, in hitting.

Sophomore lefty Marshall Thompson went six innings, striking out five and walking one, allowing only one run off six hits in the winning effort.

Junior Austin Pressly earned the save in three scoreless innings on the hill, allowing only three hits.

Six different batters combined for WVU's six hits, while Frazer blasted the game's only home run, a two-run shot, scoring Polonius.

West Virginia recorded its third straight win Sunday against Iowa in a fight to the finish.

The Mountaineers went up early in the first, when Frazer scored on McBroom's double into left center field.

Iowa tied the game up in the fifth, only to have WVU retake the lead in the sixth.

Then, the Hawkeyes turned up the pressure, evening the game in the top of the eighth.

But junior right fielder Chris Rasky came off the bench to double in the go-ahead run.

Junior second baseman Stuart Jeck followed, squeezing in Rasky for what would prove to be the game-winning run.

Sophomore right-hander Ryan Tezak earned the win in relief for WVU, despite allowing two runs in 2.1 innings of work.

Situational pitching again saved the Mountaineers, who were out-hit 8-7 by the Hawkeyes, while each team made one fielding error.

"You win championships with pitching and defense," Van Zant said. "As a pitcher, you have to get out there and compete. Some pitchers are scared to do that, but we have guys that want the ball and want to go out there and compete."

Luck ran out for West Virginia in its fourth game of the challenge, as Michigan used a six-run fifth inning to drop WVU 14-3.

At the end of a long weekend, the Wolverines' bats were just too much for the Mountaineers, who were out-hit 13-5.

Frazer led WVU's offensive effort, going 2-for-4, scoring once.

Michigan junior Ben Ballantine had a strong day on the hill, facing 24 batters in seven innings, allowing two runs – one earned – off only three hits.

The Napa, Calif., native nearly threw five straight perfect innings, allowing only one base runner, who was eventually the victim of a double play, from the second through the sixth inning.