PROVO, Utah – Once up seven runs, then down eight runs, the West Virginia University baseball team came back to win a wild affair with BYU, 19-16, Saturday at Miller Park. The Mountaineers improve to 22-4 and 4-3 in the Big 12 while the Cougars fall to 14-11 and 4-5 in conference play.
 
West Virginia set a new season high with 20 hits, led by four from senior Kyle West, who also drove in three runs. Senior Jace Rinehart hit a home run and drove in six on the day while sophomore Armani Guzman had a homer and four RBI. Junior Logan Sauve had a home run, two RBI and scored four runs as well.
 
Guzman put the Mountaineers in front with a three-run home run in the second inning, his second of the season. He drove in another run in the third with a single which started with a solo home run from Sauve followed by run-scoring doubles by freshman Gavin Kelly and senior Grant Hussey, his first of three on the day, as WVU took a 7-0 lead.
 
The lead did not last long as BYU scored five runs in the third and 10 in the fourth to go up 15-7.
 
The Mountaineers got back into the game right away as they scored six in the fifth inning, all with two outs. Barnett started the rally with an RBI single before a bases-loaded walk to Sauve. West and Rinehart each followed with two-run base knocks to get WVU back within two.
 
In the seventh, Rinehart put the Mountaineers back in front with a three-run opposite field home run, his team-high fifth of the season.
 
West Virginia added three more runs in the eighth on RBI singles from Barnett, West, and Rinehart.
 
BYU threatened in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate, but sophomore Chase Meyer closed out the game for his first save of the season.
 
In a game that featured 35 runs, freshman Mac Stiffler stood out on the mound, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings with two strikeouts to keep the Mountaineers within striking distance in the middle innings of the game. Graduate student Jack Kartsonas had three strikeouts in 2.1 innings before handing the ball off to Meyer. Overall, the three pitchers allowed just one run on three hits in the final five innings of the high-scoring contest.
 
The 80 combined runs in the three-game series this weekend is the most in a Big 12 series this season, surpassing the 63 runs scored between Arizona and TCU on March 14-16.
 
West Virginia will be back on Tuesday for a non-conference game at Ohio State with first pitch set for 6 p.m. The Mountaineers will return home on Wednesday to face Pitt in the first edition of the Backyard Brawl this season.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.