WVU lost another game via a walk-off error. Both losses came against long-time rivals on the road. The loss will not hurt them much, but it stings nonetheless. It moves them to 39-8 overall and 22-3 on the road. They remain first in the Big 12 at 18-4 and have a three-game lead over Arizona State. Their next game is on Friday in Manhattan, Kansas, against Kansas State at 7 p.m. Read more: Pittsburgh landed the final blow in the Backyard Brawl.
Recap: Pittsburgh Landed the Final Blow in the Backyard Brawl
Sam White started the party in the first inning with an RBI single to right field. Logan Sauve followed that with an RBI fielder’s choice for the second run. Spencer Barnett walked to load the bases before Brodie Kresser knocked in another run with a ground out to second. WVU jumped to an early 3-0 lead before Chase Meyer took the mound as the starter.
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Kyle West hit a home run in the top of the second inning. It came with two outs in the inning and extended the lead to four. It was also his second home run in as many games as he continues to put the barrel on the ball. Meyer finished his night after getting a double play to end the second inning. He pitched two shutout innings and recorded two strikeouts.
Pittsburgh finally swung back in the third inning, recording three runs of their own. Bryant Yoak replaced Meyer and struggled to find the strike zone. He hit the first batter he faced and walked the next before allowing a single. He was replaced quickly by Ben McDougal. McDougal walked in a run and gave up a two-run single the following at bat. Tyler Hutson replaced him, struck out two batters, and got a flyout to get out of the inning.
West accounted for the next WVU run in the sixth inning. He singled to left field to score Grant Hussey from third. White hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 6-3. The Panthers answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Sebastian Pisacreta hit a two-run home run off of Hutson to left field. Hutson struck out two of the next three batters and got out of the inning.
WVU scored two more runs in the eighth inning. They also scored one in the top of the ninth inning thanks to a well-placed bunt by Hussey. WVU ran the squeeze to perfection and made the score 9-5, heading into the bottom of the ninth.
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Carson Estridge hit the first batter and walked the second to start the bottom of the ninth. Benjamin Hudson replaced him and immediately gave up a three-run home run to Jayden Melendez. He gave up a single the following at-bat and was replaced by Mac Stiffler. Stiffler gave up another single and hit a batter before being replaced by Reese Bassinger. Bassinger gave up the tying run on a fielder’s choice, and the winning run crossed the plate on a fielding error in right field. Armani Guzman fumbled the ground ball in the rain and allowed the run to score.
Key Takeaways
WVU has lost two games in the past week on a walk-off due to an error. The little miscues have come full circle and hurt them in the biggest moments of games. They were up four runs and only needed three outs to win this game, but could not finish. Head coach Steve Sabins used nine pitchers in the game, and all of them were pitchers he had been using in conference games. Now is the time to give reps to the pitchers who have not got much work this season to see what they have. A non-conference game does not matter as much, and it is a good opportunity to learn about younger players.
The offense did their job in a hard-fought game but still could have provided more run support. They scored nine runs but also left nine men on base. They had ten hits and 11 walks as a team. WVU had plenty of baserunners but did not get enough timely hits to make them all count. Still, nine runs is a lot of support for any staff, especially this team. They still rank ninth in the country with a team ERA of 3.63, but it did not show tonight. Luckily, this was not a Big 12 game, so they still have a great chance of locking up the conference in the next few weeks.
