WVU Baseball Slips Past Troy on Tyrus Hall’s Single; Enters Winners’ Bracket

WVU Baseball played — and won — their first College World Series game in program history on Friday, June 12, defeating the Troy Trojans 7-5 with a two-run single from third baseman Tyrus Hall in the eighth inning.

The Mountaineers (46-15) took a 1-0 lead in the first as Armani Guzman manufactured a run, taking second on an error before swiping a pair of bases, including a program-record setting straight steal of home plate.

Watch: Armani Guzman Steals Home to Set WVU Baseball SB Record

Troy answered with an RBI single in the second, getting to West Virginia starter Chansen Cole with a two-out double. Hall doubled home two runs in the bottom of the inning, extending the Mountaineers’ lead to 3-1, but Cole continued to struggle in the third, giving up the lead as the Trojans rallied for three more runs.

That prompted head coach Steve Sabins to change pitchers after just 2.2 innings and 52 pitches thrown; Ian Korn took over and fired six innings of one-run ball, needing just 79 pitches to cover 18 outs. The Mountaineers’ bats, meanwhile, didn’t let Troy play with the lead. Designated hitter Sean Smith hit a solo homer in the bottom of the third, knotting the game 4-4; Hall walked and Guzman hit an RBI double for a two-out rally the following frame.

Late Inning Drama

Once again, the lead didn’t stick, as Trojans’ catcher Jimmy Janicki hit a two-out, two-strike homer in the seventh. Mountaineers’ shortstop Matt Ineich and first baseman Brodie Kresser began the home half of the eighth with consecutive singles, setting up Hall, the team’s No. 9 hitter, to play hero with his third and fourth RBI of the day.

Korn recorded the first two outs of the ninth before issuing a walk. With the tying run at the plate, Sabins turned to Ben McDougal, who needed three pitches to induce a Janicki foul out and end the game.

The win advances WVU Baseball into the winners’ bracket; they’ll face the winner of tonight’s game between North Carolina and Ole Miss on Sunday, June 14.

Stay with WV Sports Now for more coverage of WVU baseball in the College World Series.