Baseball Falls In 13 Innings at Coastal Carolina
February 27, 2015 08:14 PM | General
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CONWAY, S.C. – After coming back to tie the game in the top of the ninth, the West Virginia University baseball team fell 4-3 in 13 innings at Coastal Carolina on Friday evening at Springs Brooks Stadium.
G.K. Young gave the Chanticleers the win with a walk-off home run to right field to lead off the bottom of the 13th.
West Virginia (3-5) managed three runs on eight hits with two errors and Coastal Carolina (6-2) scored four runs on nine hits with one error.
“You have a young team with a bunch of kids who have never played here before and you get into a game like that, that’s valuable experience for some of these guys to play in a game like that,” coach Randy Mazey said.
After only three hits prior to the ninth inning, West Virginia had three in the ninth to tie the game at 2-2.
Senior third baseman Justin Fox and sophomore first baseman Jackson Cramer hit back-to-back singles to lead off the ninth. Freshman Tucker Cascadden pinch ran for Cramer and senior right fielder Brad Johnson drew a walk to load the bases with no outs.
Freshman left fielder Kyle Davis drove in Fox with a fielder’s choice to second base, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Sophomore second baseman Shaun Corso then hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Cascadden to tie the game at 2-2.
Senior shortstop Taylor Munden gave West Virginia the 3-2 lead in the top of the 12th inning with an RBI single to right field, scoring sophomore center fielder Shaun Wood. Wood was walked to begin the 12th inning, stole second base and advanced to third base following a ground out by freshman designated hitter Caleb Potter.
Coastal Carolina promptly tied it at 3-3 in the bottom of the 12th inning as pinch hitter Al Molina reach base on a fielding error by Corso. Molina moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a single to center field by Anthony Marks.
West Virginia nearly took a lead in the top of the 13th inning as it had the bases loaded with one out, but a double play got Coastal Carolina out of the jam. Wood flied out to left field and Johnson was thrown out at home plate trying to tag from third base.
Munden and Davis each finished with two hits to lead the Mountaineers offensively. Munden extended his hitting streak to eight games, dating back to the season opener.
Senior left-hander Ross Vance (1-1) was brilliant in the no-decision. Vance gave up two runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in 8.2 innings. He now has struck out 17 in his last two appearances.
Junior right-hander Blake Smith pitched 1.1 innings of no-hit relief and freshman right-hander Conner Dotson (0-1) pitched the final 2.0 innings, taking the loss. Dotson gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
Scoreless entering the fifth inning, Coastal Carolina took a 2-0 lead after the first two batters of the inning reached base for the Chanticleers. David Parrett hit a sacrifice fly to center field and Josh Crump smacked an RBI single through the right side.
West Virginia returns to action at 3 p.m. on Saturday to take on Ball State. The game will be played at TicketReturn.com Field in Myrtle Beach, and freshman right-hander Adam Keller (0-1) will make his first career start.
Links to live audio and live stats are available on WVUsports.com.
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