West Virginia (24-8, 10-5) completed the series win over Texas Tech on Sunday after winning game three, 10-2. Read more: Cole’s 8-inning gem propels WVU to series win over TTU.
Chansen Cole led the way for the Mountaineers with an eight-inning gem where he allowed just two runs on eight hits. He added four strikeouts to his total as well.
Backed by 18 team hits, WVU’s offense gave Cole strong run support. Six Mountaineers drove in runs, led by Brock Wills’ team-high three RBIs.
Quick start for WVU
West Virginia’s offense got rolling early in the rubber matchup on Sunday. Matt Ineich led off with a double, and Paul Schoenfeld quickly drove him in after a triple into right field.
Sean Smith cashed in Schoenfeld off a single in the next at-bat.
Cole began his ninth start of the season with a scoreless bottom of the first. The sophomore recorded his first two strikeouts of the afternoon.
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After a leadoff double from Armami Guzman, WVU added another run on the board after Brock Wills pushed him across with an RBI fielder’s choice.
Cole followed with another clean frame in the second.
Pitchers buckle down
Texas Tech’s starter, Adam Hayes, pitched his first scoreless inning in the third despite allowing three singles.
WVU posted another zero on the board after Cole managed to work around a leadoff double from Jesse Rusinek.
Hayes faced some trouble in the fourth after allowing back-to-back singles from Matthew Graveline and Wills. However, after a poor base running decision from Wills trying to reach second, he was thrown out. Ineich grounded out immediately after to give Hayes his second-straight scoreless frame.
Cole also faced some danger in the bottom half of the inning after giving up two singles of his own. He quickly recovered and recorded two groundouts to end the inning.
Connor Mohan replaced Hayes in the fifth and posted a 1-2-3 inning. Cole matched him with his own perfect inning. He added another strikeout to his total in the process.
Other than allowing a two-out walk, Mohan pitched another clean inning in the sixth.
Cole surrendered his first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Tracer Lopez, which brought home Linkin Garcia from third. Garcia reached base on a walk and moved into scoring position on a double from Matt Quintanar.
Mohan continued to dominate out of the bullpen after posting his third shutout inning in a row. Cole bounced back and pitched his own scoreless inning to send the Mountaineers into the eighth up 3-1.
WVU gets some insurance
West Virginia added three runs on the board in the eighth to extend its lead to five. Smith and Tyrus Hall reached base early with a single and a double, respectively.
Zahir Barjam scored Smith from third off a sacrifice fly to center field. After Mohan was replaced by Logan Addison, Wills knocked in the other two runs off a single through the infield grass.
Cole continued his best outing of the season with a 1-2-3 in the bottom half.
The Mountaineers added four more runs at the top of the ninth with an RBI single from Smith, scoring Gavin Kelly, who led off the inning with a double, getting the inning started.
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A single from Guzman scored Smith, and Graveline pushed two more across after a single of his own.
Cole attempted to finish the complete game but was replaced by Ben McDougal after allowing two early base runners.
The Bridgeport native was quickly replaced after hitting his first batter and walking in a run on the next batter.
Ian Korn came in and made quick work of the Red Raiders, recording the final two outs of the game in a row.
What’s next
West Virginia now moves to a tie in second place with UCF in the Big 12 standings. The Mountaineers look ahead to their midweek matchup against Penn State on Wednesday, April 15.
The teams will play the neutral-site matchup at Meritus Park in Hagerstown, Maryland, home of the Flying Box Cars, with first pitch set for 5:30 p.m.
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