Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY – For the fourth consecutive season, the No. 17 West Virginia University baseball team advanced to the Big 12 Championship Semifinals, with a 5-1 victory over No. 7 Texas Tech on Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.
 
The fourth-seeded Mountaineers (36-18) improved to 2-0 at the postseason event thanks to another dominating start by junior right-hander Alek Manoah, who held the top-seeded Red Raiders (37-16) to one run on four hits with 10 strikeouts and a walk in 8.0 innings pitched.
 
WVU scored its five runs on eight hits, beginning with two in the fourth, half an inning after TTU took a 1-0 lead and scored its lone run of the game. West Virginia added two more in the eighth and a final insurance run in the ninth inning.
 
"We kind of knew going into it, with AK (Manoah) versus (Texas Tech starting pitcher Caleb) Killian, that it was going to be a game just like that," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "The over-under was going to be really low on that game, and it held true to form. Both of those guys are really, really good. Killian's been really good his whole career here. He's really hard to hit, and when we scored in (the fourth inning), I heard (senior outfielder) Darius Hill yell out of the dugout, 'It's taken us three years, but we've finally scored off this guy.' He's that good, but our guys are grinders. AK is just an unbelievable grinder. He throws to Pudge (senior catcher Ivan Gonzalez) all the time, he's an unbelievable grinder. It's just the make-up and the chemistry of our team, and you guys are seeing it, the kind of kids we have.
 
"The catches (junior center fielder) Brandon White makes in center field are ridiculous. He's been doing it for three years, he's a human highlight film. Aside from that, it changed the game. He took a run off the board with the one he made over his head, and the one in front of him, if he doesn't make that catch, that's (Texas Tech right fielder) Gabe Holt you're putting on the bases. That guy changes the game on the bases. So, I couldn't be prouder of not just these two guys (Manoah and White) but everybody."
 
West Virginia advances to Saturday's semifinals and will play the winner of Friday afternoon's game between Texas Tech and fifth-seeded Kansas in an elimination game. First pitch on Saturday is set for 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT.
 
Manoah's outing was his seventh double-digit strikeout performance and 11th quality start in 15 starts this season. While the leadoff batter reached in five of the first six innings, Manoah held Texas Tech hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position.
 
Offensively for the Mountaineers, senior right fielder Darius Hill and junior center fielder Brandon White each had a hit, an RBI and a run scored. Hill drove in White for the game-tying run in the fourth inning and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly on the next pitch. White added two highlight-reel, run-saving catches in center and threw out a runner at third. Junior third baseman Kevin Brophy led the team with two hits.
 
Manoah escaped his first jam of the night in the first inning, as a leadoff single and one-out walk put two on. However, a fielder's choice and strikeout ended the inning. In the second, White threw out a runner at third who attempted to take an extra base on a stolen base with an errant throw to help Manoah face the minimum.
 
Texas Tech took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a sacrifice fly with runners on second and third with one out. However, Manoah got a groundout to end the inning and limit the damage.
 
The Mountaineers wasted no time answering with two runs in the top of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. White was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and scored on Hill's triple. Junior first baseman Marques Inman then drove in Hill with a sacrifice fly.
 
TTU put two on with one out in the bottom half, but Manoah kept the WVU lead intact with back-to-back strikeouts. He got a line-drive double play and a strikeout to face the minimum in the fifth and stranded a runner on third in the sixth, as White made the first of two fantastic diving catches to end the inning.
 
In the seventh, White made another fantastic catch with one out and a runner on, as Manoah added a strikeout and got out of the inning with a fielder's choice groundout.
 
West Virginia added two insurance runs in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by freshman shortstop Tevin Tucker and an RBI single by White. As Brophy and junior left fielder TJ Lake scored, WVU's lead was extended to 4-1.
 
Manoah's night concluded with two final strikeouts in the eighth inning.
 
WVU extended its lead to 5-1 in the ninth inning, as senior catcher Ivan Gonzalez doubled home freshman pinch runner Austin Davis.
 
Junior right-hander Sam Kessler relieved Manoah to start the ninth and pitched a 1-2-3 frame to complete the victory.
 
In Saturday's semifinal, WVU will play the winner of Friday's game between Texas Tech and fifth-seeded Kansas in an elimination game. First pitch on Saturday is set for 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT.
 
The game will be broadcast on FOX College Sports Central and on FOX Sports GO to subscribers. Fans can listen to the games on the Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College on various affiliates throughout the state, while fans across the country can tune into the broadcast online at WVUsports.com/Watch and on the WVU Gameday and TuneIn Radio Apps. Live stats can be found at Big12Sports.com. Direct links to video and radio streams and live stats are available on the baseball schedule page on WVUsports.com.
 
Notes: West Virginia improves to 36-18 on the season, 2-0 at a neutral site and 8-5 against top-25 teams … The Mountaineers have won six in a row and nine of their last 10 … WVU is 12-10 all-time at the Big 12 Championship and 9-5 since 2016 … The Mountaineers are 7-3 as a No. 4 seed at the Big 12 Championship, 3-0 against No. 1 seeds and 4-0 against Texas Tech … West Virginia advances to the Big 12 Championship semifinal for the fourth consecutive season … WVU's 36 wins on the season are tied for fourth-most in a single season in program history, and the Mountaineers have won 36 games in three of the last four years after not reaching the mark since 2009 … West Virginia pitchers had 10 strikeouts and have 531 on the season to extend its program record … Mountaineer hitters drew three walks to bring their season total to 234, third-most in the WVU record books … Alek Manoah extended his WVU record for strikeouts in a season (135), moves into a tie for sixth in wins (9) and is 10th in career strikeouts (240) … Manoah collected his 11th quality start in 15 starts and notched double-digit strikeouts for the seventh time this season … Darius Hill extended his school records for career games played (229), starts (229) and at-bats (921) and moves into a tie for fifth place in triples (10) and remains in third in extra-base hits (104) and seventh in RBIs (161) … Ivan Gonzalez moves into seventh place in WVU history in career games played (205) and moves into a tie for 10th in hits (223) and remains in sixth in at-bats (732) and games started (193) … Brandon White is in second place in program history with 60 career stolen bases and is in sixth with 25 stolen bases in 2019.
 
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