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No. 24 WVU Baseball Takes Series at KSU with 10-6 Win

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WVU Baseball first baseman Grant Hussey stands in the batter's box.

No. 24 WVU baseball took the game and the series against the KSU Wildcats with a 10-6 win Sunday.

After their bats went cold in a 7-1 loss Saturday, the Mountaineers responded with an offensive explosion. The Wildcats chased starter Grant Siegel from the game early, but West Virginia’s bullpen turned in 6.1 strong innings to carry the Mountaineers to the finish line.  First baseman Grant Hussey went 3-for-4 with a home run to cap a strong weekend at the plate.

After right fielder Caleb McNeely reached on an error, the Mountaineers made Kansas State pay with a three-run second. West Virginia designated hitter Kevin Dowdell hit a sacrifice fly with runners at the corners to score McNeely. Hussey slugged a two-run homer to take a 3-0 lead.

The Wildcats responded in the bottom of the frame, putting runners on the corners themselves. Right fielder Cash Rugley singled to plate a run, and first baseman Roberto Pena drilled a home run that traveled 469 feet and landed on top of Kansas State’s volleyball facility to take a 4-3 lead.

Mountaineers’ second baseman JJ Wetherholt led off the third with a double. Wetherholt stole third, but it didn’t matter as center fielder Braden Barry hit a home run of his own to reclaim the lead 5-4.

Head coach Randy Mazey pulled Siegel from the game after a two-out walk in the third, substituting Robby Porco.

Hussey picked up where he left off in the fourth, hitting a leadoff double. Shortstop Tevin Tucker hit a bunt single to advance Hussey to third, and Wetherholt hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-4.

The Mountaineers continued to pad their lead in the fifth when McNeely hit a leadoff home run.

West Virginia added some much-needed insurance runs in the ninth. They began the frame with three consecutive singles from Tucker, Wetherholt and Barry, the latter an RBI knock. Catcher Dayne Leonard advanced the runners with a bunt, and KSU gave McNeely a free pass with the base open.

Left fielder Landon Wallace scored two more with a single of his own to make it 10-4, but the Wildcats threw McNeely out at home on the relay to end the rally.

The Wildcats managed two runs of their own in the bottom of the ninth. Aidan Major allowed a leadoff walk, so Mazey pulled him for Jake Carr. After an opening strikeout, Carr allowed a two-run homer to Pena and a single by designated hitter Dom Hughes, but he worked a pair of fielder’s choice outs to end the game.

WVU baseball moves to 21-7 on the season (2-1 Big 12). Up next is a midweek game at Marshall at 6pm on Wednesday, April 5.

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