WVU Baseball Splits Back and Forth Doubleheader Against WKU

WVU Baseball split their Saturday doubleheader with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, managing to pull ahead in the first game before struggling to complete the comeback in game two as both teams traded scoring opportunities across their 18 innings played.

The Mountaineers narrowly avoided disaster in the first inning, with starter Tyler Switalski allowing an RBI double before walking the bases loaded, but he managed to induce a groundout to hold the Hilltoppers lead to 1-0. 

First baseman Grant Hussey tied the game the next inning with a towering two-out home run, but the Hilltoppers managed to inch ahead in the third with another RBI double.

Left fielder Sam White worked a full count single in the fourth inning, then right fielder Ben Lumsden doubled him home before scoring himself on a groundout from Hussey, giving the Mountaineers their first lead of the game. It didn’t last long, as a leadoff walk turned into a small ball run for Western Kentucky after a bunt, a failed pickoff attempt and a sacrifice fly.

The Mountaineers put two on with two outs in the sixth, stealing bases to move into scoring position before a single from Nick Barone and a double from Spencer Barnett put them up 6-3. West Virginia loaded the bases then added two more insurance runs in the ninth, but they weren’t necessary as reliever Hambleton Oliver contributed 4.2 scoreless innings on the way to victory.

Mountaineers Can’t Complete the Comeback

The Mountaineers jumped out to an early lead in game two thanks to an RBI sacrifice fly from Lumsden and a two-out single by Garcia, but the Hilltoppers roared back in the bottom of the frame, taking a two-run lead with a four run rally.

Two Mountaineers reached via walk to start the second, but a double play erased any hope of drawing even. West Virginia starter Hayden Cooper, meanwhile, rebounded from his early struggles to toss a seven pitch inning.

Kyle West walked, Armani Guzman wore a pitch and Skylar King reached on an error to juice the bases in the fourth. Another pitch hit Sauve, narrowing the deficit to 4-3.

Western Kentucky continued to pull away in the fifth, scoring two more runs in the fifth, but the Mountaineers managed to reel them back in, with Reed Chumley and Ben Lumsden earning RBI singles. A groundout in the bottom of the sixth pushed the Hilltoppers lead back to two.

Lumsden led off the ninth with a solo shot to pull within a run, but the Mountaineers couldn’t 

WVU Baseball moves to 7-5 on the season. They look to take their series with the Hilltoppers starting at 1 p.m. Sunday, with Carson Estridge set to take the mound.