USF Takes on WVU in the Final Regular Season Series

The USF Bulls, 33-18 (16-8), were rained out of their Thursday game against UNF and now finish the regular season on the road at Morgantown as the team looks to end the season on a high note heading into the Big East tournament.  The Bulls still have a chance at the regular season title, but have to take it one game at a time and WVU stands in the way.

WVU is 21-31 (7-17) on the season, including 13-10 at home.  They have a solid batting order and can look to derail the Bulls in the final series (game begins tonight at 7:05, the Friday game begins at 7:05, and the Saturday game begins at 1PM).

WVU is led by junior short stop John Polonius (6-0 190-pounds) who is batting .321 with 2 home runs and 19 RBIs on the season.  Freshman outfielder Bobby Boyd (5-9 160-pounds) is batting .318 with 2 home runs, 7 doubles, and has 18 RBIs on the season. He also has 22 steals to lead the team, adding a major speed threat on the bases  Freshman short stop Billy Fleming (6-0 190-pounds) is batting .306 with 20 RBIs.  Sophomore left fielder Matt Frazer (6-5 253-pounds) is batting .291 with 6 home runs and has 28 RBIs.  Sophomore 1B Ryan McBroom (6-3 215-pounds) is batting .292 with 5 home runs and 39 RBIs to round out a solid batting order for the Mountaineers.  Top to bottom, WVU has a solid batting order that lives on contact and moving runners over.  McBroom and Frazer are the power threats and Body is the speed threat that gets it going on offense.  The Bulls pitching staff, led by Barbosa and Stultz, have to continue attacking the strike zone like they have all season long and get WVU batters to swing and miss.

The WVU pitching staff is led by sophomore RHP Corey Walter (6-3 210-pounds) who is 5-5 on the year with a 4.65 ERA.  Walter has worked 91 innings, allowing 103 hits, 27 walks, and has 38 strike outs (opponents hitting .292 against him).  Junior RHP Dan Dierdorff (6-0 190-pounds) is 4-6 (5.50 ERA) while working 76 innings, allowing 87 hits, 37 walks and has 57 strike outs (opponents hitting .297 against him).  Sophomore RHP Ryan Tezak (6-3 215-pounds) is 3-2 (1.45 ERA) with 2 saves out of the bullpen.  He has worked 18.2 innings, allowing 14 hits, 14 walks, and has 17 strike outs.  Sophomore RHP Josh Harlow (6-0 195-pounds) is 2-2 with 2 saves on the year with 34 innings of work, allowing 47 hits, 11 walks, and has 22 strike outs.  The WVU pitching staff has been shaky at times this season.  Their starters have very high ERAs and the innings pitched vs. the number of hits allowed shows that they tend to leave a few pitches over the plate.  The Bulls, who have been hitting a lot better late in the year, should be able to take advantage during the series and string along some strong innings to put themselves ahead and take pressure off the pitching staff.

This is a big series for the Bulls.  The Big East title and upcoming tournament are ahead of the team, but they have to take it one game at a time, like they have been all season.  USF should be able to take 2 out of 3 or even complete the sweep of WVU, but they must be cautious and keep the focus they have had all season in these final games.