WVU Baseball Obliterates Baylor 18-4 to Sweep Series

WVU Baseball extended their winning streak to eight on Sunday, sweeping the Baylor Bears with an 18-4 win.

Baylor kept pace early, but the Mountaineers pulled away in the late innings with deep home runs and clutch at-bat from their true freshman hitters. 

Back and Forth

Shortstop Tevin Tucker began the game with a single. Bears’ starter Cam Caley walked second baseman JJ Wetherholt and center fielder Braden Barry to load the bases.

Catcher Dayne Leonard hammered a single to left to plate a pair of runs, and right fielder Caleb McNeely made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly.

Baylor loaded the bases in the second inning, chasing starting pitcher Robby Porco from the game for reliever Maxx Yehl. A pair of fielder’s choice outs brought in two runs, closing the gap to 3-2.

Caley hit left fielder Landon Wallace with a pitch in the third. Leonard worked a ten pitch at-bat, extending the lead to 5-2 with a home run to straightaway center field. 

𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝@dayne_leonard with his third homer of the season to extend the Mountaineer lead! He now has 4️⃣ RBI on the day!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/XCEAGSUVSa

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) April 30, 2023

Yehl allowed a walk and a single to put runners at the corners in the fourth. Left fielder Daniel Altman lifted a sacrifice fly to left to plate a run, and a single from third baseman Hunter Teplanszky pulled Baylor within a run.

West Virginia Pulls Away

Wetherholt pulled a 453 foot moonshot to right-center in the fifth. 

https://twitter.com/WVUBaseball/status/1652730226063945729?s=20

Landon Wallace cleared the batter’s eye a pitch later with a 439 foot homer to center. 

Reliever Grant Siegel worked around a pair of singles in the bottom of the frame to maintain the 7-4 lead. 

First baseman Grant Hussey drew a nine-pitch walk in the sixth. Baylor center fielder Caleb Bergman robbed Mountaineers’ third baseman Ellis Garcia of extra bases with a diving catch to keep the Bears within striking distance. 

Wetherholt and Wallace singled to begin the seventh. Barry dropped down a bunt single and each runner claimed an extra base on a throwing error by pitcher Hambleton Oliver, stretching the lead to 8-4. 

The Mountaineers began the eighth with three consecutive singles off the bat of designated hitter Logan Sauve, a bunt from Tucker and an RBI knock from Wetherholt. Wetherholt stole second and third (his 30th and 31st steals of the season), and a hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases. 

True Freshmen Turn Out

True freshman Evan Smith picked up a clutch pinch-hit at-bat for the third game in a row, hitting a pop up that fell in no-man’s-land with two outs to clear the bases. Hussey singled Smith home to make it 13-4. 

Reliever David Hagaman worked three strikeouts looking in the eighth.

End 8 | Mountaineers 13, Bears 4

Straight filth from @David_Hagaman8 as he strikes out the side!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/dILPf6dNQh

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) April 30, 2023

Smith worked a bases-loaded walk in the ninth and fellow true freshman Nick Barone hit a pinch-hit grand slam to make it 18-4.

NICK BARONE GRAND SLAM!!!

The first pitch he sees this weekend is launched for his second homer of the year!!#HailWV | @Nick_Barone03 pic.twitter.com/T6KXvYu3bZ

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) April 30, 2023

WVU Baseball moves to 33-11 on the season. They’ll host the Pitt Panthers at 6:30 pm Wednesday in the second of three games in the 2023 Backyard Brawl series.