WVU Baseball Wins 10th Straight, Beats Oklahoma 9-3

WVU Baseball stretched their winning streak to a season-high ten games on Friday, blowing out the Oklahoma Sooners 9-3. 

Mountaineers’ starter Ben Hampton went six strong innings, allowing just one run, a solo homer. Hampton allowed traffic on the base paths throughout his start (which prevented him from going deeper into the game), but didn’t allow it to burn him, locking down to escape each inning with timely help from the Mountaineers’ defense.

Flashing the leather!#HailWV | @ttuck_5 pic.twitter.com/Wio1iUyC53

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) May 5, 2023

Mid 5 | Sooners 1, Mountaineers 5

It's @jj_wetherholt's time to shine on defense!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/DVVHhpa3j7

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) May 5, 2023

Sooners’ starter Braxton Douthit hit WVU second baseman JJ Wetherholt with a pitch in the first. Left fielder Landon Wallace made Douthit pay for the mistake, hitting an opposite-field homer to open a 2-0 lead. 

GOING, GOING, GONE!!@landonwallace with a two-run 💣 to put the Mountaineers up early!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/WndNziQCed

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) May 5, 2023

The Sooners got one back in the third via a lefty-on-lefty homer from right fielder Bryce Madron. Oklahoma worked a walk and two singles for an excellent scoring chance, but Wallace cut the lead runner down at the plate with a frozen rope of a throw to end the inning.

Provided runs earlier, now he's preventing runs!@landonwallace with a strike!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/EuWqshuwVy

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) May 5, 2023

Mountaineers Pile it On

West Virginia wasted no time retaliating. Wallace and catcher Dayne Leonard walked, and first baseman Grant Hussey doubled to the wall to bring Wallace home. Third baseman Ellis Garcia roped a single up the middle to score two more runs, giving West Virginia a 5-1 lead. 

Center fielder Braden Barry began the fifth with a double, coming home on a Leonard single. Hussey hit his second double of the day to plate Leonard, extending the lead to 7-1. 

Shortstop Tevin Tucker wore a pitch to lead off the sixth. He took second on a groundout, stole third and made it home on an infield single by Barry as small ball pushed the Mountaineers’ margin to 8-1. 

Hussey walked and Garcia doubled to put two runners in scoring position in the seventh: Hussey came around to score on a wild pitch. 

Oklahoma scored a pair of runs in the eighth, closing the deficit to 9-3 as their first three base runners reached on a single, walk and an RBI double.

West Virginia loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the frame. Two infield groundouts (including a double play) allowed Oklahoma’s defense to escape unscathed.

WVU Baseball moves to 35-11 on the season (12-4 Big 12). They look to take the series against Oklahoma beginning at 4pm Saturday.