WVU Baseball Splits Monday Doubleheader Against Stetson

WVU Baseball split their double header with the Stetson Hatters on Monday, losing 5-4 via walkoff in the first game before claiming the matinee 7-5 with a clutch ninth-inning hit of their own.

The Hatters loaded the bases in the first inning, forcing Mountaineers’ starter Hayden Cooper to throw 37 pitches and taking a 2-0 lead with a pair of RBI singles. A leadoff double helped Stetson plate another run in the third.

First baseman Grant Hussey scorched a 110 mile per hour solo shot in the fifth inning as the Mountaineers began to chip away at the lead. 

JJ Wetherholt and Logan Sauve singled in the sixth to put runners at the corners. Sam White singled, scoring Wetherholt before taking second himself via error. 

Ellis Garcia hammered a game-tying single, then he and White executed a double steal to take a 4-3 lead. 

Evan Griffis and Yohann Dessureault hit consecutive doubles to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. 

From there, both teams squandered opportunities to take the lead with runners in scoring position until the bottom of the ninth inning, when Stetson right fielder Jayden Hylton smacked a single off the outfield wall to hand the Mountaineers their second walk-off loss in as many games.

Mountaineers Take Game 2

Wetherholt and Sauve drew consecutive four pitch walks in the first inning. Right fielder Ben Lumsden singled to shortstop to score Wetherholt, and Sauve scampered home on an error to make it 2-0.

The Hatters tied the game in the second inning when second baseman Yohann Dessureault smacked a two-out, two-run homer to right.

Sauve wasted no time regaining the lead, pulling the first pitch of the third over the left field wall. Reed Chumley, Kyle West and Brodie Kresser hit consecutive singles in the fourth, pushing the lead to 4-2.

Skylar King and Sauve singled to open the seventh, and Lumsden dropped a bunt to move them into scoring position. White lifted a sacrifice fly to score King, then Garcia and Hussey walked the bases loaded, but the Mountaineers couldn’t push any more runs across.

The Hatters loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, tying the game thanks to a groundout RBI and a two-run single.

Sauve walked to open the ninth, then Lumsden reached via bunt. White dropped another bunt to move the runners over, then Garcia laid out the third bunt in a row to plate two runs and make it 7-5 as the Mountaineers thrived via small ball.

Gavin Van Kempen issued a one-out walk, bringing the tying run to the plate, then froze two batters looking to end the game.

WVU Baseball moves to 2-2 on the season. Their next series begins at 4 p.m. on Friday, February 23 at the Charlotte 49ers, with Aidan Major likely to take the mound.