WVU Baseball Falls to Stetson After Walk-Off Home Run in Extra Innings

WVU Baseball lost a thriller in extra innings on a soggy Saturday afternoon, falling 7-5 to the Stetson Hatters after a walk-off home run.

A Mountaineers transfer hit a clutch eighth-inning home run for the second game in a row, but West Virginia couldn’t come up with the decisive hit to win it.

The Mountaineers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. JJ Wetherholt began the game with a slap single to second base, and left fielder Sam White drew a four pitch walk to push him into scoring position. Third baseman Ellis Garcia hit an opposite field double to score Wetherholt, before White came home on a Grant Hussey sacrifice fly.

The Hatters’ first two batters reached base, advancing on a double steal that allowed the leadoff man to score on a passed ball.

Designated hitter Kyle West led off the second with a double, taking to third on a sacrifice fly, but the Mountaineers couldn’t plate him with one out. West Virginia starter Tyler Switalski returned the favor in the third, stranding a leadoff double by inducing weak contact.

Stetson starter Dylan Jacobs retired 12 batters in a row before Hussey and second baseman Brodie Kresser attempted a two-out rally with consecutive singles, but reliever Cole Stallings entered the game and forced West to foul out.

The Hatters’ first five batters reached base in the bottom of the sixth. A groundout and a single tacked on two more runs as Stetson took a 5-2 lead.

White singled with one out in the eighth, and Hussey hit what should’ve been an inning-ending fly out. Hatters’ left fielder Evan Griffis dropped the ball, allowing White to score before second baseman Brodie Kresser, formerly of Des Moines Area Community College, hit a game-tying two-run blast.

Brand New Ballgame

Wetherholt doubled in the ninth, taking third on a sacrifice fly. White walked to put runners at the corners, but Garcia fouled out on the first pitch he saw.

The Hatters singled the bases loaded with one out in the tenth. Reliever David Hagaman fielded a comebacker and threw to catcher Logan Sauve to save the game, then forced a lineout on a payoff pitch to send the game to the eleventh.

WVU Baseball moves to 1-1 on the season. The Mountaineers look to take the series lead at 1 p.m. Sunday, with Hayden Cooper, a right-handed transfer from SIU Edwardsville, set to take the mound.