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Series Evened With 3-1 Defeat
April 29, 2017 08:13 PM | Baseball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 25 West Virginia University baseball team lost a 3-1 pitcher’s duel in the second game of a three-game series against Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon.
The Mountaineers (25-16, 10-7 Big 12 Conference) scored one run on six hits while holding the Sooners (29-16, 7-7 Big 12) to three runs on five hits.
The series’ second game came after WVU and OU finished the first game earlier on Saturday. After lightning halted play on Friday night, West Virginia rallied to defeat Oklahoma, 4-2, in the final four innings early Saturday afternoon.
“Anytime you show up to the field and you’re losing in the sixth inning and you come out with the win, you have to feel good about that,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said of his team winning the day’s first game. “Doubleheaders, eighty percent of them get split, that’s why no one likes playing them. You have to give them credit. They scored three runs with one swing of the bat. There weren’t many offensive threats by either team in that second game, they just took advantage of one and we didn’t. (Alek) Manoah went out there and pitched as well as he has since he’s been here, so that was super encouraging and we needed that.”
Freshman right-handed starter Alek Manoah held OU to three runs, all coming on a seventh-inning, bases-clearing double. He allowed five hits in a career-long 8.0 innings. Manoah struck out career-high-tying six batters and walked three. He was followed by senior righty Jackson Sigman, who struck out two in 1.0 hitless innings.
Junior left fielder Kyle Davis was 3-for-4 with his team-high-tying seventh home run of the season for WVU’s lone run.
For Oklahoma, starter Kyle Tyler gave up a run on five hits in 5.2 innings and two relievers, Connor Berry and JB Olson, combined to hold WVU to one hit in the final 3.1 innings. Each of OU’s pitchers walked one, while they combined to strike out seven.
After Monoah allowed two singles to open the game, he got a double play and proceeded to retire 15 consecutive batters, a streak that extended into the sixth inning.
Davis’ two-out, solo home run in the second inning put the Mountaineers ahead, 1-0.
The Mountaineers got a hit in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but were unable to put more than one runner on in each inning.
Manoah’s stretch of retiring 15 batters in a row ended with a one-out walk in the sixth, but the Sooners would not do any further damage until scoring three runs on two hits in the seventh inning. With two outs and a runner on, a double and a walk loaded the bases for Kyle Mendenhall, who cleared the bases with a double down the left field line.
Facing their first deficit of the game, the Mountaineers could not get a hit in the seventh or eighth innings.
Sigman relieved Manoah in the ninth inning and got two strikeouts to keep it a 3-1 game.
The Mountaineers put up a fight in the bottom of the ninth, when Davis singled to center with one out and pinch-hitter Keven Brophy walked with two outs to put two runners on. However, West Virginia could not get a run across.
The series finale is set for Sunday, April 30, and has been moved up 30 minutes, to 11:30 a.m., to accommodate a late change in OU’s travel schedule. The game will be broadcast on TV throughout the state of West Virginia on Nexstar Media affiliates.
Tickets are still available for Sunday’s game. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, purchasing tickets at WVUGAME.com or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office at Gate A of Monongalia County Ballpark on gameday or in advance at the Gold Gate at the WVU Coliseum.
NOTES: West Virginia falls to 25-15 on the season and remains in second place in the Big 12 with a 10-7 league record … The series against Oklahoma is tied, 9-9 … The crowd of 2,929 is the fifth-largest home crowd in program history, the second-largest this season and the fourth-largest at Monongalia County Ballpark … Kyle Davis hit his team-high-tying seventh home run of the season and 21st of his career.
Single game tickets, flex plan tickets and mini packs for the 2017 WVU baseball season are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, going to WVUGAME.com or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office in the WVU Coliseum. The 2017 schedule is available on WVUsports.com.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit WVUsports.com.
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