Baseball Opens New Ballpark with Walk-off Win
April 10, 2015 10:54 PM | General
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RELATED LINKS: College Baseball Fans the Big Winner Tonight
GRANVILLE, W.Va. – In front of a record crowd of 3,110, the West Virginia University baseball team defeated Butler, 6-5, in walk-off fashion on Friday evening in the grand opening of Monongalia County Ballpark.
“I said going into this thing that it doesn’t matter how you play tonight and it doesn’t matter what happens, you just have to try and grind out a win because the kids are distracted,” coach Randy Mazey said.
Senior third baseman Justin Fox hit a two-out, game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 13th to break the 5-5 tie.
Freshman designated hitter Caleb Potter drew a two-out walk, followed by a single up the middle by junior center fielder KC Huth. After a fly out to right field by senior shortstop Taylor Munden, Fox drove a 0-1 pitch over the left fielder’s head, scoring Potter from second to seal the win.
“It was an unbelievable atmosphere; great crowd,” Mazey said. “We have no home field advantage because Butler has played on this field as many times as we have. To come out of here with a win is a great statement for our program.”
West Virginia (19-12) finished with six runs on 14 hits with three errors, while Butler (13-19) had five runs on 10 hits with one error.
The Mountaineers scored five of their six runs with two outs and tallied nine of their 14 hits with two outs.
Junior right-hander Blake Smith earned the win for West Virginia, improving to 4-1 on the season. Smith pitched 2.1 innings in relief, allowing just one hit and no runs with five strikeouts.
Freshman right-hander BJ Myers scattered four hits over 7.2 innings of relief for the Mountaineers. Myers struck out seven batters, walked just one and allowed two unearned runs.
Munden recorded the first hit at Monongalia County Ballpark with a leadoff single through the left side in the bottom of the first inning.
KC Huth gave the Mountaineers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second with a two-out single to left field, scoring freshman second baseman Kyle Davis.
Davis then gave WVU a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third with a two-out double to left center field, scoring senior left fielder Brad Johnson.
Butler scored four runs on four hits in the top of the fourth to take a 4-2 lead. The inning was highlighted by a two-run double to left field by Will Amador.
Sophomore first baseman Jackson Cramer cut the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth with the first home run at Monongalia County Ballpark. The solo blast went to dead center field and was his fourth of the season.
Huth drove in his second run of the night with another two-out RBI in the bottom of the sixth inning, tying the game at 4-4. Huth scored Potter from second on the play.
Butler responded in the next half inning, reclaiming a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh. Ryan Wojciechowski doubled down the left field line, scoring Tyler Houston.
But the Mountaineers would respond again. Potter hit a two-out single up the middle to score Ray Guerrini from second to tie the game entering the ninth.
West Virginia threatened in the bottom of the 11th when Fox reached on an infield single to third base and stole second to get in scoring position. But the Mountaineers were unable to get Fox around as sophomore right fielder Shaun Wood went down swinging.
Freshman right-hander Conner Dotson (0-3) went three innings in a no-decision start, giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits with one strikeout and one walk.
West Virginia and Butler return to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Mountaineers will send junior left-hander Ross Vance (4-2) to the mound and he will face Butler left-hander Peter Nyznyk (1-1).
The game will feature a free video stream, courtesy of Coca-Cola. The game can be heard throughout the state on affiliates of the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG with Jeff Culhane and Ernie Galusky on the call.
Additionally, fans can listen to the broadcast via the WVU Gameday App on their mobile device, as well as the TuneIn Radio App. WVUsports.com also will carry free live audio via the LeanStream Player at WVUsports.com/audio.
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