WVU Baseball Drops Series With UCF After Errors, Missed Chances

WVU Baseball dropped the game and their series with No. 23 UCF, conceding first place in the Big 12 as they lost 5-1 on Sunday, April 5.

The No. 13 Mountaineers (21-7, 8-4 Big 12) managed just four hits. They added four walks, giving opportunities to generate offense, but went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, their lone run coming on a Gavin Kelly sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the eighth.

UCF, meanwhile, stung West Virginia starter Chansen Cole for a first inning solo home run. The sophomore right-hander rebounded to face the minimum through the end of the fifth inning, his lone base runner erased when Kelly caught Andrew Williamson stealing.

Cole started to come unraveled in the sixth, allowing a one-out single. He induced a fielders’ choice, but a Matthew Robaugh throwing error put a runner on second on the play regardless. The Mountaineers issued an intentional walk to Williamson, trying to set up a double play ball with a base open, but John Smith reached on a dribbler up the middle to load the bases.

Head coach Steve Sabins turned to David Perez from there. Another error — this one from Armani Guzman — allowed a run across and kept the inning alive. Perez then issued a bases-loaded walk and a two-run single before Reese Bassinger entered the game and ended the rally.

The Mountaineers made little of their eighth inning opportunity; Matt Graveline, Saturday’s hero, legged out a triple in the ninth, but they couldn’t bring him home.

WVU Baseball will return to action at home against in-state rival Marshall at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7.