Box Score CORVALLIS, Ore. – The West Virginia University baseball team could not overcome three home runs by No. 3 Oregon State in a 4-2 loss on Saturday afternoon at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field in Corvallis, Oregon.
The Mountaineers (5-5) took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning, but the Beavers (10-0) answered with two runs in the bottom half of the fourth and added a run in the sixth. OSU held WVU to two runs on six hits to stay undefeated on the season.
Sophomore left-handed starter
Jackson Wolf held the Beavers to four runs on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 7.0 innings pitched. He suffered his first loss of the season and falls to 2-1.
Junior left fielder
TJ Lake led West Virginia with two hits and drove in both runs on a two-out double in the fourth inning.
All four of Oregon State's runs came via the home run. OSU left two runners on base and WVU stranded five.
The Beavers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a leadoff home run by Beau Philip, his first of two on the day.
After the Mountaineers left a runner on in the first and third, they broke through with two runs in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. Senior right fielder
Darius Hill led off the inning with a double and senior third baseman
Andrew Zitel added a two-out walk. Lake then doubled to right-center to bring home Hill and Zitel.
However, Oregon State answered back with a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to regain a 3-2 advantage. The homer, by Philip, came after a leadoff walk.
Wolf pitched a perfect fifth inning and OSU extended its lead to 4-2 in the sixth thanks to a leadoff home run by Adley Rutschman. Wolf then proceeded to retire the next six batters he faced, which included an eight-pitch seventh inning.
West Virginia threatened in the top of the seventh, as Lake and junior center fielder
Brandon White singled to put two on with no outs, but two flyouts and a caught stealing ended the inning. In the eighth, senior catcher
Ivan Gonzalez walked, but a double play helped Oregon State face the minimum in the frame.
The walk to Gonzalez extended his reached-base streak to a career-best and team-leading 21 consecutive games.
Freshman right-hander
Ryan Bergert relieved Wolf in the eighth and struck out the side in his third career appearance.
Two strikeouts and a popup in the ninth ended the game.
The series concludes on Sunday, at 4:05 p.m. ET/1:05 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed live for free on
Pac-12.com/Live, a radio broadcast will be available on
OSUBeavers.com/Watch, and live stats can be found at
OregonState.Statebroadcast.com. Direct links are available on the
baseball schedule page on WVUsports.com. Additional behind-the-scenes updates, news and notes can be found on social media by following and connecting with the team on
Twitter,
Facebook and
Instagram at @WVUBaseball.
Notes: West Virginia falls to 5-5 on the season and 3-5 on the road … WVU is 0-2 against top-25 teams this season … The Mountaineers are 2-2 all-time against defending national champions …
Ivan Gonzalez extended his team-leading reached-base streak to 21 consecutive games and
Tyler Doanes extended his reached-base streak to 15 games … Both reached-base streaks are career longs and began last season …
TJ Lake had a career-best two RBIs and two hits, his first multi-hit game of the season.
Single game tickets, season tickets and mini-packages for the 2019 season are on sale now. Fans can join the excitement of WVU baseball and support the Mountaineers by purchasing tickets at
WVUGAME.com, calling 1-800-WVU GAME or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on
Twitter,
Facebook and
Instagram.