West Virginia and Fordham game one Preview

Team Stats
Earned Run Average	3.63	3.08
Batting Average	2.61	2.53
Slugging %	.404	.355
On Base %	.350	.337
On Base Plus Slugging	.754	.692
Home runs	47	25

1. West Virginia Mountaineers (37-20) vs 4. Fordham Rams (38-22)

Location: Morgantown, WV (Monongalia County Ballpark)

First pitch: 8:00 pm est

Stream: ESPN3

Common opponents:

Towson

Fordham:

March 15  L/0-8

March 17 W/ 6-1

WVU:

February 27 W/ 8-3

Morgantown, WV – For the first time in 64 years, West Virginia will host its first NCAA regional. Excitement has been building around this program for the last three years after the baseball program went to their first regional in 21 years in 2017 at Wake Forest.

“We’re super excited as a team, as a University, as a community, as a state, this doesn’t happen every day in Morgantown.” said West Virginia head baseball coach Randy Mazey. “The excitement that has been building in this program in the last five years is starting to come to a head. I’m super excited to see the crowd we’re going to have tonight supporting these guys.”

West Virginia earned their way as the overall No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament along with a No. 1 seed in the Morgantown Regional. A big part of this team’s success has hinged on the Mountaineers pitching staff and their defense.

Led by junior right-hander Alek Manoah (1.85 ERA) the pitching staffs season ERA is good enough for 23^rd in the country at 3.63.

The pitching has been backed up by some great defense, most notably from a frequent visitor of SportsCenter Top 10, center fielder Brandon White.

The hitting for the Mountaineers has been by committee, but if you’re looking for some power, Marques Inman (9), Paul, McIntosh (9), and Kevin Brophy (8) can switch momentum on a swing, combining for 26 homeruns on the year.

Darius Hill led the Big 12 in doubles with 23 and Tyler Doanes (20) was third.

Brandon White (26), Tevin Tucker (19) and Tyler Doanes (18) ranked 2^nd through 4^th respectively in stolen bases.

The Fordham Rams made their way into the NCAA Regional with an automatic bid, winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament. On their way to a conference championship, the Rams beat the heavy favorite the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams 2-1.

This Rams team has some similarities to the to the Mountaineers. They rely on opportunistic base running, leading the country in stolen bases (177), and great pitching. The team ERA sets at 3.08, that’s good enough for fourth in the country.

“They look like a team that can really pitch.” said West Virginia right fielder Darius Hill. “We’ve seen a few arms from them. They look like they all can attack hitters and can get anyone out at any time.”

John Stankiewicz (8-3) leads the Rams with a 1.21 ERA and led the team to the upset win over VCU going seven innings, only giving up one run on three hits.

Closer Kyle Martin finished the season with 10 saves and is 6-2 on the season.

The Rams doesn’t overwhelm you offensively, but have a steady half of an order in Jake McKenzie (.313), Jake Baker (.305), C.J. Vasquez (.281) Jason Coules (.281) and Alvin Melendez (.275) leads the team in homeruns with five.