WVU Baseball Benefits From Arizona Miscues in 7-4 Win

WVU Baseball concluded their Grand Canyon State road trip with a win on Tuesday, March 31, dropping Arizona 7-4 with the aid of a series of Wildcats’ miscues.

While the game began at 9 p.m. back on the East Coast, it was Arizona who played like they were up past their bedtime. Of the Mountaineers’ (20-5, 7-2 Big 12) seven runs scored, four came about because of an error or mistake: one apiece on a wild pitch, a passed ball, an error and a hit batter.

That helped them erase an early 2-0 hole after starter David Hagen allowed a second inning home run. West Virginia drew two walks to begin the third and loaded the bases to begin the fourth, setting the table for Arizona to beat itself.

Hagan needed just six pitches to complete the third inning, but head coach Steve Sabins turned to Carson Estridge out of the pen from there. The Mountaineers tacked on two more runs in the fifth on an RBI single from Matt Ineich, scoring seven straight in all.

After battling to freeze Arizona second baseman Nate Novitske with the seventh pitch of their at-bat, Estridge allowed a trio of singles in the sixth inning, loading the bases and ending his day. Reese Bassinger came on and completed the game with 3.2 innings. After allowing an RBI double in the eighth, Bassinger permitted little fanfare in the final frame, working around a Tyrus Hall error to complete his day with 56 pitches thrown.

While the Wildcats are a member of the Big 12, this doesn’t count as a conference game because it was scheduled before realignment took place. WVU Baseball will return to action at home against UCF starting at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 3.