WVU Baseball Drops Series at Cincinnati After Eighth Inning Blowup

WVU Baseball fell 7-5 to Cincinnati on Sunday, April 26, losing their road series after a five-run Bearcats’ rally in the eighth inning.

After mowing through the sixth and seventh inning, Mountaineers’ (28-11, 13-7 Big 12) reliever Carson Estridge allowed a leadoff single in the eighth, losing his full count duel with Cincinnati outfielder Ryan Tiranski. Head coach Steve Sabins turned to closer Reese Bassinger, who threw 73 pitches in the first game of the series less than 48 hours prior. Bassinger gave up four straight singles and the lead, while an error from catcher Matt Graveline allowed another run to cross before a double play ball ended the onslaught.

West Virginia put up little hope of a comeback in the ninth, Sean Smith and Armani Guzman hitting into outs on consecutive pitches to open the inning before a Zahir Barjam lineout sealed the loss. Prior to the bullpen blowup, the Mountaineers opened a 3-0 lead with a Graveline double play, and a sacrifice bunt and RBI single from Paul Schonefeld.

Starting pitcher Dawson Montesa began to labor in the fifth, walking two batters and seeing them score on a pair of bunts and a sacrifice fly. Gavin Kelly singled home two runs in the seventh, giving his team insurance, but the Mountaineers’ badly depleted bullpen couldn’t play hero once again.

Up next, WVU Baseball will travel to face Penn State at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29.