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Charleston Dirty Birds

WV Power Game Notes

September 11, 2015 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Northern Division Championship Series

West Virginia Power (1-0) at Hickory Crawdads (0-1)

Game 2 | September 11, 2015 | L.P. Frans Stadium | Hickory, NC

Radio: Charleston's ESPN 104.5 & 1490 - wvpower.com Airtime: 6:45 pm

GAME TWO MATCH-UP

LH Stephen Tarpley (11-4, 2.48) vs. RH Ariel Jurado (12-1, 2.45)

THE LEADOFF: West Virginia beat Hickory 4-2 on Wednesday evening at Appalachian Power Park in game one of the South Atlantic League's Northern Division Championship Series. The Crawdads took a 1-0 lead in the second on a Jairo Beras home run off Austin Coley. Hickory added a run in the fourth on a ground out for a 2-0 lead. In the home half of the fifth, Taylor Gushue banked a 2-2 pitch from Yohander Mendez off the scoreboard to even the game at two. With the bases loaded and two down, Michael Suchy stuck out swinging on a wild pitch and advanced to first, allowing Kevin Newman to score the go-ahead run. West Virginia added an insurance run in the seventh to seal the victory. Austin Coley earned the win while Sam Street notched a hold and Nick Neumann pitched a perfect ninth for the save. The trio combined to retire each of the last 13 batters to close out the game one victory.

BEST OF THREE: West Virginia and Hickory meet in game two this evening. A Power victory clinches a spot in the South Atlantic League Championship Series. A Crawdads win sets up a decisive third game slated for Saturday night.

HOW WE GOT THERE: West Virginia secured its fourth appearance into the South Atlantic League playoffs after a franchise-best 50 wins in the second half. The Power finished the season with a franchise-record 87 wins, which were also the most in the entire South Atlantic League. West Virginia clinched a postseason berth on August 29 against the Lexington Legends and won the division outright the next day. Hickory won the first half with a 44-24 record, 7.5 games ahead of West Virginia, though the Crawdads finished 37-33 in the second half, 13 games behind the Power.

TALE OF THE TAPE: Stephen Tarpley gets the call in game two against Ariel Jurado. Tarpley, acquired by Pittsburgh from Baltimore on January 27, went 11-4 during the regular season and held a 2.48 earned run average, good for fourth-best in the league. Tarpley was honored as the South Atlantic League's Pitcher-of-the-Week for August 10 through 16 after working eight shutout innings against Hickory on August 15, allowing just three hits and striking out two. Jurado was selected as the mid-season All-Star Game starter and has appeared in 22 games, including 15 as a starter, going 12-1 with a 2.45 ERA over total 99 innings.

POWER PLAYOFF HISTORY: This playoff run marks the fourth postseason appearance for the Power. The last time West Virginia made it to the playoffs was in 2013 when the Power were edged by Hagerstown in three games. However, in each of the first two appearances, West Virginia made it to the SAL Championship Series. West Virginia first made it to the championship series in 2007 after defeating the Crawdads in a best-of-three, but were swept by the Columbus Catfish (Rays) in the championship. The next season, West Virginia beat the Lake County Captains (Indians) in the first round, but were once against swept in the title series, that time by the Augusta GreenJackets.

ALL-STARS SHINE: West Virginia had two players named to the South Atlantic League's postseason all-star team. Yeudy Garcia was named the "Most Outstanding Pitcher" and "Best Right Handed Pitcher" while Power right fielder Michael Suchy was selected as an all-star outfielder. Garcia finished with a 2.10 ERA, the best in the South Atlantic League. Suchy concluded the season with a .275 batting average including ten home runs and a team-best 76 RBIs.

WHERE WE RANK: The Power rank among the league leaders in a host of offensive categories including hitting (.269, 1st), walks (494, 1st), strikeouts (864, 13th), stolen bases (181, 4th), and on-base percentage (.347, 1st). The Power pitching staff is also one of the best in the league in ERA (3.38, 4th), walks (350, 13th), strikeouts (1,016, 5th).

POWER POINTS: Taylor Gushue's home run Wednesday was his first since July 20 against Lexington... West Virginia finished the 2015 regular season with a .626 winning percentage, ranking as the third-best in all of Minor League Baseball among full season teams behind only Houston's Quad Cities (.638) and Corpus Christi (.636) teams...

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh lost 6-4 to Milwaukee in 13 innings... Indianapolis beat Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 6-1 and took a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series...Altoona dropped a 7-0 final against Bowie as the BaySox tied the best-of-five series at one... The Black Bears beat Williamsport in game one of their best-of-three series by a 2-1 final.

ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on Charleston's ESPN 104.5 and 1490 in Charleston, online at wvpower.com and on the TuneIn Radio App.

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