WVU Baseball
WVU Baseball Continues Slide, Drops Series to Kansas
WVU Baseball lost their series with the Kansas Jayhawks on Friday, May 16, falling 8-5 at home after their comeback attempt came up short.
West Virginia’s offense managed 11 hits to the Jayhawks’ eight, but they went a paltry 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Luckily for the Mountaineers (40-12, 19-8 Big 12), they locked up an outright Big 12 regular season championship the day prior and have little to play for during the last weekend before the conference tournament begins. However, they now sit amidst a 1-5 skid, and with that same tournament fast approaching, that bodes poorly for those who believe in the power of momentum.
Both teams traded productive outs in the first inning, setting up a 1-1 tie. Kyle West gave the Mountaineers the lead with a solo home run in the third, but Kansas responded by punishing West Virginia starter Ben McDougal for five runs the following inning, including a three-run blast from first baseman Brady Ballinger.
The Jayhawks opened an 8-2 lead in the fifth. After that, Mountaineers’ reliever Robby Porco entered and pitched four scoreless innings to close out the game, but the damage was already done. West doubled to lead off the eighth inning — finishing a triple shy of the cycle — and scored on a pinch-hit single from Ben Lumsden, while Ellis Garcia logged a pinch-hit homer the following inning, but even with three outs to work with, the Mountaineers couldn’t author a legitimate comeback attempt.
WVU Baseball will aim to avoid the sweep at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 17.
