The University of Wyoming baseball club is five victories away from its first World Series championship.
The Cowboys (20-4), the No. 1 seed in the eight-team National Club Baseball Association Division II Club World Series, begin their title quest Friday against eighth-seeded University of Central Missouri (9-6) at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pa. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. Mountain time.
A potent offensive attack -- fronted by Erik Hansen and David Masters, both of Laramie, and Jordan Mette, Rapid City, S.D., -- has carried UW to its third World Series in four seasons. The trio has combined for 10 of the Cowboys' 12 home runs, 76 RBIs, 77 runs, 20 doubles and nine triples.
With 26 hits in 43 at-bats, Mette leads the nation with a .605 batting average. Masters is hitting .532 and Hansen .473.
Two other UW starters -- Carlos Casas (.429) and Skyler Joy (.415), both from Laramie -- also sport batting averages over .400.
The Cowboys' pitching staff is led by Dustin Stallings, Fort Collins, Colo., (6-0, 3.10 earned-run average, 48 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings), Casas (3-0, 3.45 ERA, 31 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings), Hansen (3-0, 0.93 ERA, 14 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings, three saves) and Rhowe Stefanski , Palmer, Alaska, (2-1, 3.86 ERA, 24 strikeouts in 14 innings).
The other first-round matchups at the World Series are No. 2 Penn State University (15-0) against No. 7 Texas State University (15-6), No. 3 Furman University (16-3) against No. 6 University of Wisconsin (17-5) and No. 4 Longwood University (16-8) against No. 5 Hofstra University (14-3).
UW will play Longwood or Hofstra in its second game Saturday. The double-elimination event concludes Wednesday, May 24, with the championship game.
