Mountaineers Stay Alive with Win Over Ball State

Saturday, June 3

Lexington, Ky.

12 PM

West Virginia University

40-19

Ball State

36-23

West Virginia

Ball State

Photo by: Logan Adams

June 03, 2023 05:05 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Adam Grossman

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 3, 2023) – The West Virginia baseball team put an end to a six-game skid on Saturday as the Mountaineers defeated Ball State, 13-5, to stave off elimination in the Lexington Regional.

The Mountaineers advance to another elimination game on Sunday at 12 p.m. where they will play the loser of tonight's game between Kentucky and Indiana.

With today's victory, WVU reached the 40-win plateau for the second time in program history, matching the record set by the 1994 squad.

The Mountaineer bats broke out this afternoon as sophomore JJ Wetherholt, graduate student Dayne Leonard, freshman Logan Sauve, and junior Grant Hussey each hit home runs. Wetherholt finished the day with three hits and four RBI while Sauve and Leonard also drove in three. Graduate student Tevin Tucker added two hits, two walks, two RBI, three runs scored, and a stolen base.

On the mound, sophomore Aidan Major was the story as he threw 5.0 scoreless innings in relief with eight strikeouts, zero walks, and allowed just one hit. His eight strikeouts matched a career-high, having also done so against Pitt in 2022 and Oklahoma State earlier this season.

After Ball State took an early lead in the second inning, Wetherholt put the Mountaineers on top as he scorched a three-run home run to center field. He now has 16 home runs on the season and 60 RBI to lead the team.

The Cardinals answered in the home half of the third with four runs to take a 5-3 lead a third of the way through the game.

In the top of the fourth, Leonard hit a fly ball to right that kept carrying, eventually landing in the bullpen for a solo home run. The Mountaineers tied the game later in the inning on a groundout from Wetherholt before Sauve also went the other way for a two-run shot to put WVU back out in front.

Major kept the Ball State bats quiet which allowed the Mountaineers to extend their lead, beginning with a solo home run from Hussey in the seventh before tacking on five runs in the ninth on singles from Leonard and Sauve sandwiched around a two-run double by Tucker.

If the Mountaineers can win tomorrow, they will play again on Sunday night against the winner of tonight's Kentucky/Indiana game. Should they win that game as well, there will be a rematch for the regional title on Monday.

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.