WVU Baseball

West Virginia Falls to No. 9 Texas Tech, 7-5, in First Game of Doubleheader

Published

2 years ago

April 23, 2022

WVU players during National Anthem (Photo by Julia Mellett/WVSN)

A standout pitching performance by Andrew Morris led No. 9 Texas Tech to a 7-5 win over West Virginia in the first meeting of a doubleheader at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park in Lubbock, Texas. Morris pitched nine innings and gave up just three hits, recording a 3.70 ERA.

The Red Raiders got on the board first, as Easton Murrell hit a home run off Jacob Watters on the first pitch of the game. West Virginia tied things up in the top of the second thanks to a line drive hit by Grant Hussey to right field which brought McGwire Holbrook home. Texas Tech converted a 5-4-3 double play to retire the side and the Mountaineers were left with one runner on base.

After two errors by Morris in the top of the third, West Virginia earned four runs and took a 5-1 lead. West Virginia had just two hits in the inning but scored four runs. Both hits didn’t even leave the infield.

Texas Tech stormed back in the bottom of the third and scored five runs to retake the lead at 6-5. Kurt Wilson hit a three-run home run to tie the game at 5-5. It was the Red Raiders second home run of the afternoon. Sam Hunt scored off a sac fly by Ty Coleman prior to Wilson’s home run. A RBI single down the third base line by Hudson White brought Owen Washburn home to give the Red Raiders a 6-5 lead.

Chris Sleeper replaced Watters on the mound in the bottom of the fourth and gave up one run to the Red Raiders, advancing their lead to 7-5. Sleeper retired the side with two Texas Tech runners left on base to end the inning.

After letting up four runs in the top of the third, Morris retired eight straight Mountaineer batters and had another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth.

Both teams bats cooled off after the third inning with only one run being scored. Morris dominated from the fourth inning on and retired 15 batters in a row to secure a 7-5 win for the Red Raiders.

First pitch of the second game is expected to be at 5:15 ET. Fridays game was postponed due to a dust storm in Lubbock.