West Virginia Power Game Notes
May 22, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
POWER REPLAY: West Virginia lost 11-6 to Lakewood on Saturday night. The BlueClaws scored four runs in the first and four runs in the sixth to build an advantage the Power could not overcome. Zack Von Rosenberg took the loss for the Power after allowing five runs over four innings. Justin Howard keyed the offense with three runs batted in, and both he and Drew Maggi had three hits apiece.
GIFT TO THE DL: Gift Ngoepe was placed on the disabled list on Saturday prior to the Power game against Lakewood. The infielder has a wrist injury and hadn't played for West Virginia in a week. Ngoepe was batting .306 over 25 games at the time of the injury with two home runs and five runs batted in.
LOPEZ MAKES SAL DEBUT: Porfirio Lopez, added to the West Virginia roster on Saturday when Gift Ngoepe was placed on the disabled list, made his South Atlantic League debut last night. The left-hander from La Vega, Dominican Republic, had made 11 appearances for Bradenton earlier this season and had never pitched above the Dominican Summer League prior to 2011. Lopez was 3-1 last year in the DSL with an ERA of 1.53 over 13 games, all starts, and was 1-1 for the Marauders with an earned run average of 5.49.
DIGGING IN VS. THE CLAWS: West Virginia and Lakewood play game three of this four game series today at Appalachian Power Park. The BlueClaws hold the all-time advantage in this series with a 45 wins over 77 games. The Power trail at their own yard in this series, going 17-27 at home since 2005. West Virginia and Lakewood will meet a total of 19 times this season after playing 16 times last year.
PINPOINT CONTROL: West Virginia pitchers have combined to walk just 80 batters this season, by far the fewest in the league. In fact, Power pitchers have walked the fewest batters in all of professional baseball. Four other minor league teams are under 100 free passes issued, while Seattle has walked an American League low of 127 and the Chicago Cubs have walked a National League low of 112.
CHICKS DIG âEM: West Virginia hit four home runs during the three game series at Lexington. Comparatively speaking, Power batters have hit nine long balls at Appalachian Power Park (21 games), four at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium in Kannapolis (five games), and one at Lake Olmstead Stadium in Augusta (eight games), and did not hit one out at Jospeh Riley Jr. Park in Charleston (four games). West Virginia is last in the South Atlantic League in home runs hit this season.
QUARTER MILE POST: On Sunday, the Power played their 35th game of the 2011 season, putting them one quarter of the way through the schedule. Even at 17-18, the Power were off to their best start in their brief affiliation with the Pittsburgh Pirates, dating back to 2009. The 2010 club was 15-20 after 35 games, were batting .236, and held a staff ERA of 3.70. The 2009 version were 12-23 with a .256 average, and a 3.42 earned run average. This edition held a team batting average of .262 and a team ERA of 4.06 after 35 games.
POWER POINTS: Brandon Cumpton pitched seven and two-thirds innings on Thursday, the longest outing by any Power starter this season... The Power will make up the May 3 rainout against Greensboro on June 14 at 5:30 pm as part of a doubleheader.
AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh beat Detroit 6-2 for their fourth straight win... Indianapolis knocked off Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre by a 5-3 final... Altoona split a doubleheader with Akron, winning 2-0 and losing 8-1... Bradenton surrendered three runs in the top of the ninth in a 6-4 loss to Dunedin.
ON THE AIR: All 140 West Virginia Power games can be heard on ESPN 104.5 FM and 1490 AM in Charleston, WV, across the state on the Power Radio Network, and online at milb.com. Adam Marco will call the action for each of the 70 home games this season, while the home team will provide coverage while the Power are on the road.
South Atlantic League Stories from May 22, 2011
- Flacco, Pettit Lead Shorebirds to 8-3 Win in Game Three - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Rogers Rolls as Augusta Tops Charleston, 5-2 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Delmarva Scores Seven Straight to Beat Kannapolis - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- GreenJackets Cash In On Charleston's Dog Day in Win - Augusta GreenJackets
- Gnats Retake First Place with Five-Run Eighth Inning - Savannah Sand Gnats
- BlueClaws Get ahead Early, Stay in Front for Win - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Legends Come from behind for 9-6 Win over Asheville - Lexington Legends
- BlueClaws Beat Power 7-3 for 5th Straight Win - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Braves Defeat Crawdads 5-4 - Rome Emperors
- 'Dads Rally in 9th, but Braves Hang on for 5-4 Win - Hickory Crawdads
- Savannah Sand Gnats Game Notes - Savannah Sand Gnats
- West Virginia Power Game Notes - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Grasshoppers Leap Over Suns with Late Inning Surge, Win 9-6 - Hagerstown Suns
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