West Virginia University
32-20, 13-10
Kansas State
27-26, 8-15
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | X | 15 | 14 | 2 |
Bats Stay Hot as WVU Clinches Series Over K-State
May 20, 2022 11:10 PM | Baseball
For the second consecutive night, the Mountaineers found their groove at the plate, collecting 14 hits and scoring three or more runs in three different innings. WVU led wire-to-wire on its way to claiming its final Big 12 Conference series of the season.
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Sophomore left-handed pitcher Ben Hampton earned the win on the mound, bolstering his record to 8-4 on the year, while German Fajardo took the loss for the Wildcats.
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"We managed to keep grinding," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "With our offense and the way we run, you can't walk us. (Kansas State) walked us 10 times tonight, and I think we stole six or seven bases. If we do that, we're usually going to win."
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After a pair of scoreless frames to begin the ballgame, WVU (32-20, 13-10 Big 12) took the lead in the bottom of the third with a three-run inning. First, sophomore catcher McGwire Holbrook hit a sacrifice fly to right field, before sophomore outfielder Braden Barry crushed a two-run home run to left to make it 3-0.
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The big fly marked the Louisville, Kentucky, native's sixth of the year and fifth in the month of May.
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Then, West Virginia struck for eight runs in the fourth to blow the game open. After redshirt junior infielder Tevin Tucker scored on a KSU throwing error, Holbrook hit a two-run single. Then, Barry collected another RBI with a fielder's choice, before redshirt junior catcher/infielder Dayne Leonard hit an RBI double down the left-field line.
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WVU wasn't done there. Sophomore infielder Mikey Kluska brought another run home with an RBI single, while Tucker capped the big inning with a two-run triple to the right-field corner.
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The Mountaineers sent 12 hitters to the plate in the fourth and took an 11-0 lead.
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Hampton, meanwhile, allowed just two runs on three hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in 6.1 innings of work. The Wildcats (27-26, 8-15 Big 12) didn't record their first hit of the night until the fifth inning, where they went on to tally two runs on a triple.
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West Virginia scored four more in the sixth, thanks to RBI singles by Tucker and junior outfielder Victor Scott II and freshman infielder JJ Wetherholt's two-run double. That made it a 15-2 score line.
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K-State recorded a pair of solo homers in the seventh and eighth, respectively, to close out the scoring.
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Seven different Mountaineers finished with at least one RBI on Friday, while Holbrook, Barry and Tucker each had three. Additionally, Kluska finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
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With the win, the Mountaineers have now outscored Kansas State, 30-8, in the first two games of this weekend's series. Additionally, it marked the club's 13th Big 12 win, which ties for the most in one season in program history.
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With the series already in hand, West Virginia goes for the sweep in Sunday afternoon's regular-season finale against the Wildcats. First pitch at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark is set for 12 p.m. ET, with Senior Day festivities scheduled before the game at 11:40 a.m.
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For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hampton, Ben (8-4)
L: Fajardo, German (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Pelletier, Raphael 1
3B: Rugely, Cash 1
HR: Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
RBI: Rugely, Cash 2 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Dominic 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Mitchell, Justin 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
CS: Johnson, Cole 1
HBP: Johnson, Dominic 1
Batting:
2B: Wetherholt, JJ 1 ; Leonard, Dayne 1 ; Kluska, Mikey 1
3B: Tucker, Tevin 1
HR: Barry, Braden 1
RBI: Wetherholt, JJ 2 ; Scott II, Victor 1 ; Holbrook, McGwire 3 ; Barry, Braden 3 ; Leonard, Dayne 1 ; Kluska, Mikey 1 ; Tucker, Tevin 3
SF: Holbrook, McGwire 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Davis, Austin 2 ; Wetherholt, JJ 3 ; Scott II, Victor 2 ; Barry, Braden 2 ; Leonard, Dayne 1 ; Hussey, Grant 1 ; Kluska, Mikey 2 ; Tucker, Tevin 2
SB: Davis, Austin 1 ; Wetherholt, JJ 1 ; Scott II, Victor 1 ; Holbrook, McGwire 1 ; Tucker, Tevin 2
HBP: Wetherholt, JJ 2
