WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 2-seed West Virginia University baseball team lost to top-seeded and No. 13-ranked Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon in the second game of the NCAA Tournament.
The Mountaineers (35-25) scored three runs in the first inning, but were held to four hits the rest of the game. The Demon Deacons (41-18) rallied with two in the fifth and one in the seventh before walking off on an RBI single in the ninth inning.
The tight ballgame, WVU’s 17th against a top-25 opponent, came in front of a capacity crowd of 3,018 fans at David F. Couch Ballpark, many sporting Old Gold and Blue.
"Wow, what a game, huh?,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “The fans turned out in bunches on both sides and it was a great atmosphere. Someone had to lose in that game and it's a shame that it was us, but it was a lot of fun. You don't realize now how much fun it really was because you’re so disappointed. Congratulations to Wake. We are in a position we were in last week in the conference tournament. This is the hardest game we've had so far in the regional. It's a game where you are coming off a loss and a team coming off of a win. We're playing in an elimination game and we were in this spot last week and came out on top with the No. 3 team in the country, Texas Tech. I feel certain to our guys that we're going to come out tomorrow with a lot of energy and passion and put their hearts on the field and see what happens."
With the loss, West Virginia will face Maryland in the elimination game tomorrow, at noon ET. The winner will advance to play Wake Forest Sunday at 5 p.m. Yesterday, the Mountaineers opened NCAA action with a 9-1 victory over the Terrapins.
While Wake Forest starter Parker Dunshee and reliever Griffin Roberts held WVU to three runs on seven hits, freshman starter Isaiah Kearns, freshman reliever Sam Kessler and sophomore reliever Braden Zarbnisky combined to limit the Demon Deacons to four runs on eight hits.
Wake Forest left 11 runners on base, while the Mountaineers stranded six.
Offensively, senior first baseman Jackson Cramer hit his team-leading 11th home run of the season in the first inning. Zarbnisky and sophomore second baseman Kyle Gray both had two hits.
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. Gray led off the game with a double, and sophomore right fielder Darius Hill singled him home from second. With two outs, Cramer’s home run to right scored Hill and capped a three-run inning.
Kearns followed with a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, with two strikeouts, and backed it up with a perfect second inning after West Virginia stranded two runners in the top half.
A pair of nice defensive plays helped Kearns face the minimum in the third. After a leadoff walk, Hill tracked down a deep fly ball in right-center field. After making the catch, he fired a two-hopper to Cramer to double off the runner, who had rounded second before trying to retreat back to first. A two-out double followed, but Kearns picked him off at second to end the inning.
West Virginia stranded a runner in the fourth inning, before Kearns left two on base in the bottom half.
The Demon Deacons got on the board with a two-run home run by Bruce Steel in the fifth inning. Kessler relieved Kearns, and got the next three outs to end the inning and keep the Mountaineers ahead, 3-2.
In 4.0 innings, Kearns gave up two runs on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
WVU was retired in order in the sixth, and Kessler stranded two in the bottom half of the inning with two strikeouts, the second coming after a two-out walk.
Wake Forest evened the game in the seventh inning at 3-3. After Kessler got a pair of strikeouts, a walk signaled the end of his night. With Zarbnisky on the mound, an RBI double off the left-center field wall followed. Zarbnisky then walked two to load the bases, but got a swinging strikeout on a 1-2 pitch to end the inning and keep it a tie game.
In his 2.2 innings, Kessler allowed one run on one hit with a career-high-tying five strikeouts.
The Mountaineers stranded two runners in the eighth inning before Zarbnisky got a strikeout to end the bottom of the eighth and leave two Demon Deacons in scoring position.
Wake Forest rallied in the ninth inning with a run to win it. A leadoff single and a sac bunt opened the inning. An intentionally walked put two runners with one out for Gavin Sheets, who singled to right field to bring home the winning run.
Zarbnisky suffered the loss, just the second of his career, while allowing a run on four hits in 1.2 innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Tomorrow, West Virginia will face Maryland in an elimination game at noon ET. The winner of Sunday’s elimination game will face Wake Forest at 5 p.m. ET. If necessary, a final game will be played on Monday, June 4, at 7 p.m., to crown a regional champion.
Every game at David F. Couch Ballpark will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Doug Sherman and John Gregory will have the call. Fans can listen to all of WVU’s games on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on
various affiliates throughout the state, online at
WVUsports.com, on the Mountaineer Gameday App and the TuneInRadio App. Dan Zangrilli will broadcast the action.
NOTES: West Virginia falls to 35-25 on the season … Making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and first since 1996, WVU fell to 9-23 all-time at NCAAs … WVU is 3-13 all-time against Wake Forest and 1-6 in the NCAA Tournament … Jackson Cramer hit his team-leading 11th home run of the season and West Virginia’s seventh in two days at the NCAA Tournament … Reliever Sam Kessler struck out a career-high-tying five batters in 2.2 innings … West Virginia will face third-seeded Maryland tomorrow at noon in an elimination game.
