WVU Baseball Sweeps No. 17 UCF Thanks to Reed Chumley’s Walk-Off

WVU Baseball earned a series sweep of the No. 17 UCF Knights on Sunday, working their third straight comeback win after third baseman Reed Chumley’s eleventh inning walk-off home run.

The Mountaineers faced two four-run deficits during the 11-10 win, but always managed to keep the Knights within striking distance due to timely hitting.

UCF built a 4-0 lead in the first inning, but West Virginia answered right back with an RBI triple from Sam White and a homer from Kyle West. The Knights tacked on another run in the second inning before JJ Wetherholt tied the game 5-5 with an opposite field two-run bomb of his own.

West Virginia’s pitching staff continued to struggle, as the Knights threatened to own the game open once again with a four-run third inning. Hambleton Oliver took over from there, working 3.2 scoreless innings to settle things down and keep West Virginia in the game.

The Mountaineers came within a couple feet of tying the game with a single swing in the sixth, as Logan Sauve plated three runs with a double to the wall in left-center.

UCF loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, and a walk pushed their lead to 10-8. The Mountaineers wasted no time getting on base with the game on the line, as Sauve singled and White doubled with one out in the ninth. Chumley wore a pitch to juice the bases, then Kyle West and Grant Hussey walked to knot the game 10-10.

Gavin Van Kempen pitched 3.2 perfect innings, striking out four and allowing Chumley to call game with a moonshot to left in the eleventh inning.

WVU Baseball improves to 22-14 (11-4 Big 12) on the season, retaining the top spot in the conference.