Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team earned a 7-5 win over Baylor on Sunday afternoon at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark.
The victory completed a series sweep for the Mountaineers, who also took down the Bears on Friday (7-6) and Saturday (8-4). WVU finished with 13 hits in the affair, scoring six runs in the first two innings, before adding on with a run in the sixth.
Freshman right-handed pitcher
Chris Sleeper earned the win, boosting his record to 2-4 on the year, while fifth-year senior right-hander
Trey Braithwaite nailed down his third save. Jake Jackson took the loss for BU.
"You can put some of this on the crowd today," WVU coach
Randy Mazey said. "The crowd was really into it, energetic and got excited when we were getting out of innings. I tell people all the time to come to the game to help us win, and I think they did that today."
West Virginia (20-10, 5-1 Big 12) started quick, posting four runs in the first inning to jump in front early. Sophomore catcher
McGwire Holbrook got the Mountaineers started with an RBI single to right, before sophomore outfielder
Braden Barry snuck an RBI double just fair down the left-field line.
WVU plated two more first-inning runs on redshirt junior catcher
Dayne Leonard's single to right, which scored Holbrook and Barry.
The Mountaineers brought two more runs across in the second inning, extending their lead to 6-0. Junior outfielder
Victor Scott II registered and RBI single in the frame, while Holbrook drove another run in with an RBI single of his own.
Fifth-year senior right-hander
Zach Bravo, meanwhile, retired the Bears (16-15, 2-7 Big 12) in order in the first, second and third innings. However, the visitors tallied five runs in the fourth to claw back into the game and force WVU into its bullpen.
Bravo allowed five runs but did not surrender a hit in 3.2 innings of action, tallying three strikeouts in a no decision.
Leading, 6-5, the Mountaineers extended their margin again in the bottom of the sixth with senior outfielder
Austin Davis' solo home run. It marked the Orlando, Florida, native's third big fly of the year.
Davis went 3-for-4 with three runs scored in the win and finished just a triple short of the cycle. For the weekend, the WVU leadoff man recorded eight hits and seven runs scored.
On the mound, Sleeper logged 4.0, quality innings out of the bullpen, allowing no runs and just two hits with two strikeouts. He pitched into the ninth, where Braithwaite finished the job.
Of note, Mountaineer pitching allowed just three hits to the Bears in the series finale.
Along with Davis, Scott II, Holbrook and Barry all finished with multiple hits on Sunday. In all, eight of nine Mountaineer starters logged at least one hit in the win.
Sunday's triumph marked the first time West Virginia has tallied a sweep in Big 12 play since May 6-8, 2016, against Texas in Morgantown. The win also pushed the squad to 10-1 at home this season.
Winners of five in a row, WVU returns to action on Tuesday, April 12, at Penn State. First pitch at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in University Park, Pennsylvania, is set for 6 p.m. ET.
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