CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The West Virginia University baseball team saw its season come to an end on Saturday as the Mountaineers fell to No. 4 UNC, 2-1, in game two of the NCAA Super Regionals.
West Virginia finishes its season with a 36-24 overall record while North Carolina improves to 47-14 and advance to the College World Series.
Junior
Tyler Switalski tossed 6.1 innings with four strikeouts and allowed two runs. Sophomore
Carson Estridge pitched the final 2.2 innings while striking out six.
The Tar Heels got off to a fast start as Friday night's hero Vance Honeycutt hit a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the game. Switalski settled down after that and allowed just one run the rest of his outing and at one point retired 11 batters in a row.
In the seventh, Estridge came out of the pen and faced a bases-loaded situation with Honeycutt at the plate, but the big righty struck out the future first-round pick to strand the three runners and keep it a two-run game.
The Mountaineers got on the board in the home half of the seventh as junior
Kyle West delivered an RBI single to cut the WVU deficit in half.
In the bottom of the ninth, WVU went down fighting as they loaded the bases with two outs. Sophomore
Ben Lumsden got jammed and sent a looper to the first baseman but was just beat to the bag by the pitcher covering.
The loss on Saturday also brings a close to head coach
Randy Mazey's career, who finished his WVU tenure with a 372-274 record to go along with two Big 12 Coach of the Year awards, a Big 12 Championship, a regional championship, and the first super regional appearance in program history.
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