MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University hopes to clinch a spot in the Big East tournament with a good showing in the final series of the regular season, a three-game set starting Thursday at the University of Cincinnati.
The host Bearcats (33-19, 16-8) have earned one of the eight berths in the double-elimination tournament March 20-24 at Clearwater, Fla. But the Mountaineers (34-16, 13-11) need a win or a Louisville or South Florida loss.
Thursday’s WVU-Cincinnati contest is set for 6:30 p.m. at Marge Schott Stadium. Game two will be played at the same time on Friday, with Saturday’s third meeting at 1 p.m.
The Mountaineers lead the all-time series, 12-8, including 4-1 as Big East members. They first met in 1908 and split two meetings last year in Morgantown.
Matt Yurish (6-1), a 5-2 winner over Louisville at home last Saturday, is expected to pitch for WVU on Thursday. He made the Big East weekly honor roll on Monday.
Michael Hill (4-3) of Cincinnati was named the conference’s Pitcher of the Week. He threw a three-hitter in a 7-1 victory over Seton Hall on Sunday, striking out a career-high 10 batters.
Josh Harrison is the Bearcats’ leading hitter with a .377 batting average. Mike Spina leads the team with 64 RBIs and a .663 slugging percentage.
Shortstop Tyler Kuhn leads the Mountaineers with a .427 batting average, 91 hits and 67 runs. Third baseman Vince Belnome is batting .393 and has 64 RBIs, while second baseman Jedd Gyorko is hitting .413.
WVU Sports
WVU hopes to clinch tourney spot
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Bill Stewart services scheduled
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There will be public viewing from 2-9 p.m. Thursday, at the Morgantown Event Center, 2 Waterfront Place. - More WVU Sports Headlines
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