WVU Baseball Exorcises Demon Deacons, Stays Alive With Monstrous Sixth

Morgantown, W.Va. — WVU Baseball kept their season alive in the Morgantown Regional’s losers’ bracket on Sunday, May 31, dropping Wake Forest 10-5 behind a heroic performance from Dawson Montesa, making his first start in three weeks with the season on the line.

The junior right-hander kept his bullpen fresh with 122 pitches, four earned runs and seven strikeouts across 7.1 innings, a critical boost with WVU Baseball facing elimination once again in the Regional Final, the second leg of their Sunday, May 31 doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m.

West Virginia blew the game open in the sixth inning, pushing a one-run lead to 10-3 as they batted around the order. Six Mountaineers reached and the Demon Deacons went through a pair of pitching changes before recording their first out. An infield dribbler from Brodie Kresser helped spark the rally, nudging off third base to stay fair.

Ben Lumsden and Sean Smith notched RBI doubles; Armani Guzman created a run with his aggression on the base paths, drawing an errant pickoff throw that allowed him to score from second.

Demons Exorcised

The rally marked West Virginia’s second multiple-run lead of the game; they surged ahead 3-0 with a two-out rally in the second inning, pulling ahead on a wild pitch before a misplay in right on a Tyrus Hall single helped two more runs cross. Wake Forest managed to rebound and tie the game beginning with a leadoff double from eight-hole hitter Blake Schaff. Catcher Matt Conte lofted a fly ball to the opposite field the following inning, tying the game as he found the jet stream and the ball carried over the wall.

Gavin Kelly doubled and Sean Smith singled to plate the tiebreaker in the fifth inning. This time, the lead held.

Reese Bassinger, who covered three innings and 39 pitches the previous night, entered to ensure the Mountaineers stayed alive after Montesa allowed a one-out double in the eighth. Bassinger allowed the inherited runner to cross, the Demons aided with a Matt Ineich throwing error, but preserved the lead with 1.2 innings and 27 pitches.