WVU baseball earns impressive win over Maryland

The WVU baseball team won its sixth-straight game by knocking off Maryland, 4-1, on Tuesday.

Two players really stood out for the Mountaineers in the win over a talented Big 10 squad. First, there was an impressive performance on the mound by freshman pitcher Michael Grove.

Grove went six innings, allowing just one run on six hits. All the while, he asserted his dominance with 13 strikeouts, the most by any pitcher from the Big 12 Conference this season.

Seeing Grove find his groove and work out of jams is certainly encouraging as the Mountaineers hope to finish strong at the end of the season. He doesn’t seemed fazed by these important games. Grove will certainly be a key asset for the Mountaineers for three more years.

He has only started two games for the WVU baseball team in, this, his first year with the Mountaineers. However, his performance against Maryland should have earned him at least one more start in the regular season.

Grove will definitely be in the starting rotation next season.

Relief pitcher Jackson Sigman and Blake Smith pitched two scoreless innings for the Mountaineers.

At the plate for the WVU baseball team, Jackson Cramer picked up right where he left off last week.

Cramer, a junior, recorded his sixth multi-hit game of the season and belted a solo home run which proved to be the exact catalyst the Mountaineers needed.

After his blast, Cramer’s seventh home run of the season, the Mountaineers were in a good position to secure the victory.

In all, West Virginia pounded out seven hits. Along with Cramer, Darius Hill also had a multi-hit game. Hill, just a freshman, is the team’s leading hitter.

With a record of 28-19, the Mountaineers are riding their longest winning streak of the season.

"“We’re feeling pretty confident,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “Everyone in the dugout feels like we’re going to win every game. We’re starting to really get comfortable in this park, swinging the bat well. We’re playing with confidence. Everything’s a process, nothing in this sport happens overnight, so I think we’re settled in and playing pretty well lately.”"

The Mountaineers will close out the home slate of the 2016 season with three games at Monongalia County Ballpark this weekend. The WVU baseball team will take on William & Mary for a three-game series. All three games are certainly winnable for the Mountaineers, especially at home.

Then, the road gets a little bit tougher.

West Virginia will play Pitt next week. The Panthers beat the Mountaineers earlier in the season. Next weekend, the WVU baseball team will take on Texas Tech, the top team in the Big 12 Conference.

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