WVU Baseball Rallies in Epic 9th to Beat Kentucky, Force Regional Final

Morgantown, W.Va. — WVU Baseball made the statement they needed in the first inning of their 11-9 Morgantown Regional win over Kentucky on Sunday, May 31, scoring three runs and chasing Wildcats’ starter Ben Cleaver from the game after just two outs recorded.

The early lead carried West Virginia’s (42-15) momentum from their elimination game win over Wake Forest earlier in the day and gave their depleted bullpen cushion to work with. Their pitching staff nearly couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain, blowing two separate three-run leads in a reverse of West Virginia’s loss to Kentucky the day prior… but a four-run rally in the ninth inning put the Mountaineers in front for good.

West Virginia starting pitcher David Hagen lasted just two innings, a pair of errors in the first inning helping the Wildcats cut the deficit to 3-2 while recapturing momentum. The Mountaineers managed to surge ahead once again with three runs in the third, loading the bases and chasing reliever Tommy Skelding from the game.

Pitching the Difference

Kentucky reliver Chase Alderman entered and escaped the jam without further damage on a fielder’s choice, going on to fire 2.1 scoreless innings in relief. WVU Baseball head coach Steve Sabins turned to Josh Surigao with cushion restored, but the sophomore left-hander allowed three baserunners to just one out recorded.

Carson Estridge entered and got the Mountaineers out of the inning unscathed with the help of an outfield assist from Armani Guzman. He allowed a three-run rally the following inning, however, one that began with a Tyler Bell homer and ended with West Virginia staring up at a 7-6 deficit.

Paul Schoenfeld doubled and Sean Smith walked to begin the sixth; Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione turned to reliever Nile Adcock, who fanned Brodie Kresser and Ben Lumsden to end the threat. The Wildcats started to pull away with two outs in the seventh, Jayce Tharnish and Bell hitting back-to-back home runs off Ben McDougal.

Back From the Brink

Adcock covered three innings in a valiant effort but ran into trouble in the ninth, loading the bases with nobody out. Mingione jammed all the buttons as he tried to kill the Mountaineers’ momentum, but each of his three pitching changes failed.

Kentucky reliever Jackson Soucie walked Guzman, allowing a run to score, then Gavin Kelly cut the deficit to one with a sacrifice fly; Guzman helped the tying run cross, baiting a balk on an attempted pickoff throw, and Schoenfeld crushed a two-run homer to right to give West Virginia an 11-9 lead. McDougal held on for the win, striking out six batters, five innings and 84 pitches thrown.

WVU Baseball will take on Kentucky on Monday, June 1 with home field advantage in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament on the line; a start time hasn’t yet been announced for the winner-take-all game.