Baseball Visits West Virginia In Final Non-Conference Matchup

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle baseball team will play its final non-conference game of the 2012 season on Tuesday when it visits West Virginia for a 5 PM first pitch. Live video and stats are available.

Probable Starters
RHP Shane Petrellis (0-4, 7.04 ERA) vs. LHP Zach Bargeron (1-2, 5.40 ERA)

Scouting the Explorers (20-29)

La Salle is coming off a series win at Saint Joseph's this weekend at Smithson Field. The Explorer pitching continued to be impressive, posting a 2.74 ERA against the Hawks. Senior Kevin Christy earned Big 5 Pitcher of the Week honors after picking up the win on Sunday and breaking the school strikeout record.

Senior Eric Van Wyk also threw well, despite recording a no-decision. He threw 9.2 innings and allowed two earned runs. Junior Ryan Donahue earned the win on Saturday to improve to 3-4.

But it was the offense that seemed to get on track against SJU. La Salle boasted a season-high in hits and runs in a 12-4 win on Saturday and scored four runs in the first inning to win 5-1 on Sunday.

Sophomore George Smith, Jr. had an outstanding series, batting .429 with three doubles and five RBI. Seinor Zack Feierstein batted .400 with four RBI as well.

Senior Jeff Flax paces the team with a .304 batting average, while classmate Tony Negrin is up to .303 after a solid weekend at the plate. Smith, Jr. has 13 doubles and is batting .298, while tying junior Dan Klem for the team-lead with 26 RBI.

Senior Brendan Norton is second nationally in walks/per game (1.15).

Scouting the Mountaineers (20-31)

West Virginia is coming off a tough series versus Georgetown in which all three games were decided by a combined four runs. WVU captured the middle game but dropped the series, 2-1.

John Polonius leads the team in batting at .321, while Bobby Boyd (.320) is also batting over .300. Matt Frazer is seventh nationally with his 21 doubles. The Mountaineers like the play small-ball as much as they can and are ranked 21st nationally with 61 sacrifice bunts.

The WVU team ERA is 6.27 which ranks last in the Big East. Ryan Tezak has had some success as the team's closer with six saves and a 1.45 ERA.

The Mountaineers are playing their final series in the Big East this weekend vs. South Florida before moving to the Big 12 next season.

Live Coverage

Free live statistics and a subscription based live video feed will be offered through West Virginia's athletic website. Links are available on GoExplorers.com.

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