WVU Pushes Winning Streak to Five Games with Doubleheader Sweep of Dayton

The West Virginia Mountaineers ended their elongated homestand on as high a note as possible Sunday afternoon, earning a doubleheader sweep over visiting Dayton and pushing their winning streak to five straight games. On the homestand, which began on April 30, the Mountaineers went 7-5.

WVU (22-23, 7-14 Big 12) won game one against Dayton (18-25, 8-4 A-10) 7-6 and game two 12-6. Freshman Carlson Reed (4-4) started game one for the Mountaineers and got the win pitching five innings of one-run ball. Reed allowed just one run on five hits with five strikeouts.

Dayton struck first with a run in the top of the fourth inning, but the Mountaineers came back with five runs in the bottom of the frame. Austin Davis and Paul McIntosh both had two-RBI hits. WVU tacked on a couple of insurance runs to go into the seventh inning leading 7-1.

Reliever Tim Wynia came in to close the game out for WVU, but retired just one of the five batters he faced. After a groundout, Wynia put the next four Dayton batter on base with a hit by pitch and three walks. Skylar Gonzalez came in and finished the game but not before the Flyers scored three more runs to make the final score a close 7-6.

Daniel Ouderkirk (0-0) made the first start of his career in game two as Dayton was again the first team to score. The Flyers scored two runs off Ouderkirk in the top of the second, leading to an early exit for the redshirt-sophomore. Ouderkirk pitched 1 2/3 innings, giving up two earned runs.

WVU responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning, the big hit being a two-run single by Tyler Doanes, but Dayton retook the lead in the top of the third with two more runs. The Flyers’ lead would not last, however, as WVU scored multiple runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to build up a sizable lead and win 12-6. Ben Abernathy (2-0) picked up the win out of WVU’s bullpen.

Dones was WVU’s best hitter on the day, finishing Sunday 2 for 4 with a double, five RBI, and three runs scored. McCormick finished 3 for 5 with three doubles, and RBI and a run scored. Davis went 3 for 9 with a double, five RBI and a run scored. Freshman Nathan Blasick hit his fourth home run of the season in game two.

BLASICK 💣

UD 4
WVU 10#HailWV pic.twitter.com/HXZHanJgPV

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) May 16, 2021

WVU has one final regular-season series on its schedule, a three-game tilt against the Texas Longhorns next weekend. Action will begin at 7:30 p.m. EST Friday from Austin, TX.