Sunday, May 14
Morgantown, W.Va.
1:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
39-13, 14-6
5
vs
3
Texas Tech
35-18, 10-11
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2
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5
6
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9
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H
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Texas Tech
1
1
0
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0
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0
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3
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West Virginia
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1
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X
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9
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Photo by: Jacob Rubich
Mountaineers Take Final Home Series from Texas Tech with Comeback Victory
May 14, 2023 06:40 PM | Baseball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia baseball team earned a hard-fought, 5-3, victory over Texas Tech on Tuesday to clinch its fifth-straight Big 12 series. The Mountaineers improve to 39-13 and 15-6 in the Big 12 while the Red Raiders fall to 35-18 and 10-11 in conference play.
The Mountaineers are now two games up on Oklahoma State in the Big 12 standings with three games to go while also being three up on Texas, their final opponent of the season. WVU is also only one win shy of matching the program record of 40 set in 1994.
"This team is so impressive with the way they bounce back from stuff," said head coach Randy Mazey. "The way we're hitting, pitching, playing defense, we're checking off a lot of boxes, but nothing's finished, you can't feel too good about it. The next game is always the most important of the year and that doesn't change now."
Sophomore JJ Wetherholt and redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely each hit home runs, both coming at clutch times as Wetherholt's tied the game and McNeely's proved to be the game-winner. Sophomore Grant Hussey stayed hot after hitting two home runs yesterday with two more hits on Sunday with a pair of RBI.
On the mound, Mazey went to the bullpen early with graduate student Noah Short in the first inning and tossed a scoreless inning in his 72nd career appearance, tying a WVU program record.
Redshirt-freshman David Hagaman earned his first-career win with 3.2 hitless innings, striking out three. Junior Carlson Reed closed the game with four strikeouts in 2.0 innings for his seventh save of the season.
The Red Raiders took a 2-0 lead with runs in both the first and second, but as they have done all season, the Mountaineers did not panic after falling behind early, improving to 13-2 on the season in games in which their opponent scores in the first inning and 14-4 in which the opponent scores first.
Hussey got the Mountaineers on the board in the bottom of the second with a double to score graduate Dayne Leonard, who had two hits on the day.
WVU evened things up in the third as they traded an out at second base for a run on a double steal attempt.
Texas Tech re-took the lead in the fourth on a sacrifice fly before Wetherholt tied it up again in the fifth with his team-leading 15th home run of the season.
In the sixth, Hussey got on with a single in front of McNeely, who proceeded to blast a 432-foot home run to center to put the Mountaineers on top.
Reed faced trouble in the eighth as a two-out error and two walks loaded the bases, but Reed blew a fastball for strike three past Dillon Carter to escape the jam.
Reed faced no such trouble in the ninth as he struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 inning.
The Mountaineers will return to action on Thursday as they travel to Texas for a three-game series with the Longhorns. First pitch from Austin is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The Mountaineers are now two games up on Oklahoma State in the Big 12 standings with three games to go while also being three up on Texas, their final opponent of the season. WVU is also only one win shy of matching the program record of 40 set in 1994.
"This team is so impressive with the way they bounce back from stuff," said head coach Randy Mazey. "The way we're hitting, pitching, playing defense, we're checking off a lot of boxes, but nothing's finished, you can't feel too good about it. The next game is always the most important of the year and that doesn't change now."
Sophomore JJ Wetherholt and redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely each hit home runs, both coming at clutch times as Wetherholt's tied the game and McNeely's proved to be the game-winner. Sophomore Grant Hussey stayed hot after hitting two home runs yesterday with two more hits on Sunday with a pair of RBI.
On the mound, Mazey went to the bullpen early with graduate student Noah Short in the first inning and tossed a scoreless inning in his 72nd career appearance, tying a WVU program record.
Redshirt-freshman David Hagaman earned his first-career win with 3.2 hitless innings, striking out three. Junior Carlson Reed closed the game with four strikeouts in 2.0 innings for his seventh save of the season.
The Red Raiders took a 2-0 lead with runs in both the first and second, but as they have done all season, the Mountaineers did not panic after falling behind early, improving to 13-2 on the season in games in which their opponent scores in the first inning and 14-4 in which the opponent scores first.
Hussey got the Mountaineers on the board in the bottom of the second with a double to score graduate Dayne Leonard, who had two hits on the day.
WVU evened things up in the third as they traded an out at second base for a run on a double steal attempt.
Texas Tech re-took the lead in the fourth on a sacrifice fly before Wetherholt tied it up again in the fifth with his team-leading 15th home run of the season.
In the sixth, Hussey got on with a single in front of McNeely, who proceeded to blast a 432-foot home run to center to put the Mountaineers on top.
Reed faced trouble in the eighth as a two-out error and two walks loaded the bases, but Reed blew a fastball for strike three past Dillon Carter to escape the jam.
Reed faced no such trouble in the ninth as he struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 inning.
The Mountaineers will return to action on Thursday as they travel to Texas for a three-game series with the Longhorns. First pitch from Austin is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hagaman, David (1-1)
L: Josh Sanders (2-1)
S: Reed, Carlson (7)
Batting:
2B: Zac Vooletich 1 ; Dillon Carter 1
RBI: Kevin Bazzell 1 ; Tracer Lopez 2
SF: Tracer Lopez 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nolen Hester 1 ; Austin Green 2
Batting:
2B: Wetherholt, JJ 1 ; Hussey, Grant 1
HR: Wetherholt, JJ 1 ; McNeely, Caleb 1
RBI: Wetherholt, JJ 1 ; Hussey, Grant 1 ; McNeely, Caleb 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Tucker, Tevin 1 ; Wetherholt, JJ 1 ; Leonard, Dayne 1 ; Hussey, Grant 1 ; McNeely, Caleb 1
SB: Wetherholt, JJ 1 ; Leonard, Dayne 1
CS: Wallace, Landon 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball1B
/ BaseballC/INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
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