Strong start but early injury to Kelly
Maxx Yehl took the mound for the Mountaineers on Saturday. Yehl started the day by retiring Tyler Cox on a fly ball to center. Tre Broussard responded by drawing a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Broussard was caught stealing second base shortly after. Yehl finished his first inning with a strikeout to Xavier Perez.
The Mountaineers faced pitcher Paul Schmitz to start the game. After a lead-off strikeout to Ineich, Gavin Kelly bunted towards first and was able to reach the bag with a diving effort. Unfortunately Kelly appeared to suffer an injury to his left wrist in the process. Kelly remained in the game and moved from catcher to second base. Kelly eventually left the game and was replaced by Matthew Robaugh in the fourth inning.
Following the Kelly bunt, Paul Schoenfeld hit a ground ball to second, Kelly was forced out at second but Schoenfeld reached first base safely. Schoenfeld stole second base and was able to reach third thanks to a wild throw from Houston catcher Dylan Maxcey. Sean Smith went down on strikes to end the inning scoreless.
Following a flyout from Riley Jackson to lead off the inning for Houston, Cade Climie singled to left. Blake Fields followed with a single of his own to shallow right to give the Cougars runners at first and second with only one out. Yehl kept the Cougars scoreless with a strikeout to Antonelli Savattere and a fly out from Dylan Maxcey. Schmitz retired the Mountaineers in order in the bottom of the second, recording two strikeouts in the inning. Matthew Graveline moved to catcher to replace Gavin Kelly in the top of the third. Jackson Lalima led off the inning with a walk.
Yehl exits game
Following the walk, Maxx Yehl left the game with an apparent injury and was replaced by Ian Korn. Cox grounded out but was able to advance Lalima to second base. A wild pitch from Korn allowed Lalima to advance to third with just one out. Korn walked Broussard who later stole second base to put runners at second and third with just one out.Korn responded with back-to-back strikeouts to Perez and Jackson to get out of the inning and keep the game scoreless.
The Mountaineers were once again retired in order in the bottom of the third. Korn responded by retiring the Cougars in order in the top of the fourth.
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Robaugh led off the bottom of the fourth for WVU with a hit to center, giving the Mountaineers their first hit of the day. Schoenfeld followed with a flyout to deep left. Smith and Hall both struck out to end the inning. Korn continued to keep Houston off the board, starting the top of the fifth with a strikeout to Maxcey. Following a single to right from Lalima, Cox grounded into an inning ending double play.
Mountaineers break through in fifth
The Mountaineers finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Kresser began the inning with a walk on a 3-1 pitch. Guzman followed with a ground ball to second that retired Kresser, but Guzman was able to reach first base. Guzman went on to swipe both second and third base during the following at-bat.
Graveline laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Guzman and give WVU a 1-0 lead over the Cougars. Brock Wills blasted a two out triple thanks to a drop from Houston center fielder Broussard who was leaping at the wall. Following a four pitch walk to Ineich, Robaugh grounded out to end the inning. Korn retired the Cougars in order in the top of the sixth.
WVU pulls away in sixth
WVU added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth. Schoenfeld reached first base on a ball four that nearly hit him in the head and promptly stole second base. Smith grounded out but was able to advance Schoenfeld to third base with only one out.
Tyrus Hall flew out to right field but it was not enough to score Schoenfeld. Following a walk to Brodie Kresser, Armani Guzman bunted to first base to score Schoenfeld and beat the throw to first and reach base safely.
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The Cougars went to the bullpen, ending the night for Schmitz. Houston brought in pitcher Caden Cooper in relief for Schmitz. Graveline welcomed Cooper to the game with a single to left to score Kresser and give WVU a 3-0 lead. Wills followed with a single to right to score Guzman and advance Graveline to third and extend the lead 4-0. Ineich struck out to end the inning.
Cougars score once, WVU pulls away
The Cougars got on the board in the top of the seventh. Climie opened the inning with a single to center, Fields followed with another single to center to put runners at first and third with no outs. Savattere grounded into a double play but Houston scored to cut WVU’s lead 4-1. Maxcey popped out to left to end the inning.
The Mountaineers poured it on in the bottom of the seventh. Following a groundout from Robaugh, Schoenfeld singled to left then stole second base. Smith followed with a single to center to score Schoenfeld and give the Mountaineers a 5-1 lead. Hall continued with a double to left field to put runners at secobnd and third with only one out. Kresser singled to center to score two runs anf give WVU a commanding lead 7-1.
Houston went to the bullpen again, this time bringing in pitcher Alex Solis. Solis picked off Kresser at first base to record the second out of the inning. Guzman responded by smacking a double to center field but WVU was unable to add to their run total in the ning after a pop out from Graveline ended the inning.
Bassinger shuts the door on the Cougars
Reese Bassinger took over for Korn in the top of the eighth, Bassinger retired the Cougars in order with one strikeout in the inning. WVU also went down in order in the bottom of the eighth. Bassinger finished the job for the Mountaineers, striking out the first two batters he faced in the top of the ninth, then sealed it with a pop out from Climie to seal the Mountaineers 7-1 victory in game two of the series.
The rubber match is set for tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
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