WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 2-seeded West Virginia University baseball team rallied with a four-run eighth inning to come back and beat third-seeded Maryland, 8-5, in an elimination game on Sunday.
With the win, the Mountaineers (36-25) advance to the Winston-Salem Regional final and will face top-seeded and No. 13-ranked Wake Forest at 5 p.m. on Sunday. WVU advances to its third regional final in program history and first since 1982.
Trailing 4-0, West Virginia rallied with eight unanswered runs, beginning in the sixth inning. A one-run sixth and a two-run seventh was followed by a four-run eighth inning, as the Mountaineers took their first lead of the day.
Meanwhile, senior right-handed reliever Jackson Sigman was lights-out on the mound, allowing just one run on four hits with seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
“I can't say enough about our kids,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “We were down 4-0. We had eight innings yesterday without scoring a run and the same thing happened the first five or six today. Thirteen straight innings without scoring a run and you just knew it was a matter of time until something happened. When we left the bases loaded with nobody out in the fourth, I thought things weren't going our way, but I thought the biggest part of the game was that it's hard to grab momentum in a game of defense. When they went out and struck out the three guys in the middle of our lineup with the bases loaded and nobody out, they ran off the field yelling and excited and screaming and we went right out there when they had the momentum and threw up a zero to keep us in the game. Usually when you run off the field with defensive momentum it just translates to home plate appearances and scoring a couple of runs. Our team going out there and throwing zeroes after that I thought was just a huge part of the game.”
At the plate, sophomore right fielder Darius Hill led the Mountaineers with three hits and was one of four players with two runs scored. Sophomore center fielder Braden Zarbnisky had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored.
West Virginia’s eighth inning began with a leadoff single by Hill. A groundout advanced him to second, and he scored the tying run on a double to left-center by senior first baseman Jackson Cramer. An intentional walk followed, and Zarbnisky sent a single through the right side to bring home Cramer, the go-ahead run. Sophomore shortstop Jimmy Galusky followed with a single through the left side to make it 6-4, and a bases-loaded walk to sophomore second baseman Kyle Gray scored the final run of the inning.
Sigman followed with a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth before both teams scored one run in the ninth inning. Back-to-back strikeouts with two runners in scoring position ended the game and secured the 8-5 win.
Maryland took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a leadoff home run by Marty Costes. Freshman right-handed starter Kade Strowd struck out two in the inning to limit the damage to one run before the Terrapins made it 2-0 in the third. A leadoff walk was followed by a two-out RBI double.
West Virginia stranded the bases loaded in the fifth, before Maryland extended its lead to 4-0 with two more runs in the fifth, on a two-run home run by Brandon Gum. Sigman then replaced Strowd, and got out of the inning with a strikeout and a flyout.
The Mountaineers wasted no time getting their rally going, with a run in the sixth on an RBI groundout by sophomore third baseman Cole Austin.
Sigman followed with a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth, with two strikeouts, and the Mountaineers answered with two runs in the seventh to cut the deficit to one, at 4-3. The seventh began with a leadoff double by junior left fielder Kyle Davis, and a single by Zarbnisky followed.
A groundout scored Davis, and freshman designated hitter Kevin Brophy singled down the left-field line to bring home Zarbnisky.
West Virginia completed the comeback with four runs on four hits in the eighth inning to take an 8-4 lead, before adding an insurance run in the ninth on a fielder’s choice groundout by Zarbnisky that scored Cramer, who led off the inning with a double.
Tonight, West Virginia will face top-seeded and No. 13 Wake Forest at 5 p.m. ET, in the reginal final. 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 improves to 36-25 on the season … Making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and first since 1996, WVU improves to 10-23 all-time at the NCAAs and advances to its third regional final (1961, 1982) … West Virginia is 25-41-1 all-time against Maryland and 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament, with both games coming this weekend … Today’s game was WVU’s 61st this season, tying the record set in 1994 for most games played in a single season … Senior Jackson Sigman made his 36th appearance, extending his school record for appearances in a season.
