Early innings: back-and-forth battle
The Mountaineers faced Kansas starting pitcher Mathis Nayral Sunday afternoon. Following a groundout to Matt Iniech, Gavin Kelly hit a single to center. Unfortunately, Kelly was caught in a rundown during the next at-bat. The top of the first ended with a strike out to Paul Schoenfeld. Dawson Montesa took the mound for the Mountaineers and retired the first two batters he faced. Following a two-out walk to Tyson Leblanc, Montesa escaped the inning with no damage with a strike out to Brady Ballinger.
Sean Smith and Matthew Graveline were both retired to open up the top of the second. Guzman responded with a two-out triple to right, Kresser followed with a single to score Guzman and give WVU a 1-0 lead. Following a bloop single from Ben Lumsden, Tyrus Hall went down on strikes to end the inning with no additional runs for the Mountaineers.
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The Jayhawks struck back in the bottom of the second. Montesa walked Dariel Osoria on a 3-2 pitch to open the inning. Tyson Owens followed with a two- run home run to give Kansas a 2-1 lead, the first and only lead for Kansas in the series. After back-to-back walks to Augusto Mungarrieta and Josh Dykhoff, Montesa locked in and retired the next three batters including one strike out.
Mountaineers regain the lead
Following a ground out from Ineich, Kelly smacked a ball that snuck under the glove of Kansas short stop Leblanc to give the Mountaineers a base runner with one out. Schoenfeld struck out, but Kelly was able to advance to swipe second base. Sean Smith reclaimed the lead for WVU with a two-run home run to left to give West Virginia a 3-2 lead. Graveline grounded out to end the inning. After giving up a single to Leblanc to open the bottom of the third, Montesa retired the next three batters in order, including a strike out. Montesa’s day ended after just three innings with 80 pitches thrown.
Nayral retired the Mountaineers in order in the top of the fourth. Reese Bassinger came into the game for the Mountaineers in the bottom of the fourth. After retiring Mungarrieta on a ground out, Bassinger gave up a double to Dykhoff. Following the double, Paul Schoenfeld made a sensational diving catch in center field to rob Dylan Schlotterback of a hit and potential RBI to end the inning with a throw to second to complete the double play.
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Hall reached first base without a throw on a slow bouncer to the short stop Leblanc. Following fly outs to Ineich and Kelly, Schoenfeld hit a single that skipped off first baseman Dykhoff’s glove to advance Hall to third.
The Jayhawks went to the bullpen and brought in pitcher Toby Scheidt. Scheidt struck out Sean Smith to end the top of the fifth. Bassinger retired the Jayhawks in order in the bottom of the fifth, recording two strikeouts in the inning.
Offensive explosion in the sixth
The Mountaineers took control in the top of the sixth. After giving up a single to Graveline, Scheidt walked Guzman on a 3-1 pitch. Scheidt was able to strike out Kresser but gave up another walk to Ben Lumsden to load the bases with only one out. The situation only got worse for Scheidt after a walk to Hall on a 3-2 pitch to give West Virginia another run and a 4-2 lead. Ineich followed with a ground out, but was able to score another run to extend the lead 5-2.
The Jayhawks decided to intentionally walk Kelly and bring in pitcher Kannon Carr to face Schoenfeld. Schoenfeld stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and 2 outs and flared a ball to shallow left for a bases clearing double, giving the Mountaineers a commanding 8-2 lead. Smith added to the already impressive lead with a hit to center to score another run and extend the lead 9-2 for WVU. Smith was thrown out on the playing trying to reach second.
Bassinger dominates, WVU pours it on
Bassinger kept rolling, retiring the Jayhawks in order yet again in the bottom of the sixth. He recorded one strike out in the inning. Matthew Graveline walked on a 3-2 pitch to open the top of the seventh. Guzman attempted to bunt but popped up the attempt for the first out. Kresser gave WVU their 11th hit of the day with a single up the middle. Following a walk to Lumsden, Hall stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and hit to the gap in right-center to score two more runs and extend the WVU lead 11-2.
Kansas made another pitching change, this time bringing in Manning West. West walked Ineich on a 3-1 pitch to load the bases for Kelly. Unfortunately, Kelly grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Bassinger continued his stellar performance in the bottom of the seventh. After giving up a single to Mungarrieta, Bassinger retired the next three batters he faced to end the inning.
After a walk to Schoenfeld to open the top of the eighth, the Jayhawks made another pitching change, this time bringing in Carter Fink. Smith welcomed Fink with a triple off the wall in center to score another run and give the Mountaineers a 12-2 advantage. Following a ground out to Graveline and a walk from Guzman, Kresser stepped to the plate and hit a sac fly to center to score Smith and extend the lead 13-2.
The Jayhawks then turned to pitcher Emerson McKnight who retired Ben Lumsden on a pop out to center to end the top of the eighth.
Bassinger finishes off the Jayhawks
With the 10-run rule in effect, the Jayhawks needed to score two runs to extend the game another inning. After a four- pitch walk to Baldridge, Bassinger slammed the door on the Jayhawks and retired the next three batters in order, recording one more strikeout to complete the sweep for the Mountaineers. West Virginia now sits just one game behind Kansas for the lead in the Big 12 conference.
