Baseball Drops Series Opener Against TCU
May 01, 2015 08:34 PM | General
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team fell 9-4 in front of a crowd of 2,541 fans in Friday night’s series opener against No. 4 TCU.
The attendance mark was the third highest to ever see a WVU baseball game, behind 3,279 fans at the Oklahoma game in Charleston in 2013, and the ballpark opening game of 3,110 fans against Butler on April 10.
The loss drops West Virginia’s record to 24-20, including a 6-10 mark in Big 12 play. The Mountaineers scored four runs on 10 hits with one error. TCU improved to 35-9 overall and 11-5 in the Big 12, scoring nine runs on 11 hits with no errors.
“I think we got eight hits off their starter and I don’t know if he has given up eight hits all year, so offensively I thought we attacked him pretty well,” coach Randy Mazey said. “We just made too many mistakes in the first couple of innings. You can’t make any mistakes and we made six or seven. You have zero chance of beating that team if you play how we played early.”
Freshman right-hander BJ Myers (2-4) went 5.2 innings before leaving due to an injury in the sixth inning with two outs and runners on second and third. Myers took the loss, giving up four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
Junior right-hander Jeff Hardy came in for Myers and stranded the bases loaded after issuing a walk to his first batter. Hardy pitched two innings and gave up four runs on three hits.
Sophomore first baseman Jackson Cramer had two hits to lead the Mountaineers offensively, including a double down the left field line. Freshman second baseman Shaun Corso also had two hits.
Five-straight TCU hitters reached base in the top of the second to give the Frogs a 3-0 lead. Garrett Crain and Cody Jones each had RBI singles to right field, and Keaton Jones scored on a wild pitch. Myers was able to regain his composure and he stranded the bases loaded to end further damage.
Senior shortstop Taylor Munden cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the third with a line-drive solo home run to right field. The blast was his Big 12- and team-leading 11th of the season.
TCU quickly brought the lead back to three runs at 4-1 when Derek Odell hit a two-out solo home run to right center field.
The Horned Frogs extended the lead to 9-1 in the top of the eighth, plating five runs with two outs. Elliott Barzilli scored on a wild pitch and Connor Wanhanen singled through the left side to score Cody Jones. Evan Skoug then hit a three-run home run over the right field fence to cap the five-run inning.
The Mountaineers scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth, bringing the score to 9-4 as Cramer led off with a double and scored on a single to left field by freshman second baseman Kyle Davis. Freshman pinch hitter Kyle Casserly.and sophomore catcher Garrett Hope followed with RBI singles to score Davis and Corso, respectively.
TCU starter Tyler Alexander (4-2) allowed three runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts and one walk in 8.1 innings. Cody Jones, Wanhanen and Crain had two hits apiece for TCU.
West Virginia and TCU return to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. Junior left-hander Ross Vance (6-3) will take the hill for the Mountaineers and he will be opposed by right-hander Preston Morrison (9-1).
The game will feature a free video stream, courtesy of Coca-Cola, and can be heard on the 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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