Surprise, AZ — No. 2 West Virginia failed to produce any offensive production against No. 1 Kansas as the Jayhawks handled the Mountaineers 9-0 in the Big 12 championship game at Surprise Stadium. Read more: WVU’s offense sputters, Kansas wins Big 12 championship 9-0.
WVU left 10 runners on base on Saturday, including bases loaded opportunities in the fifth and sixth innings. As a team, they mustered just six hits.
For the Jayhawks, starting pitcher Mathis Nayral pitched a strong 4.1 innings, giving up just four hits with two strikeouts. The offense came alive in the seventh by scoring six runs, powered by three home runs.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Story will be updated after post game press conference.
Owens puts KU up early
With the bright Arizona sun shining over them, Kansas took the field first as the home team. Kansas’s starting pitcher Nayral recorded the first out of the game by forcing Matt Ineich to ground out.
He plunked Gavin Kelly on the next-at bat and then Paul Schoenfeld followed with a single to right field. Despite having runners on the corners with one out, Nayral escaped the top of the first unharmed after getting Sean Smith to ground out into a double play.
Ian Korn managed to get the first out with a ground out, just like his counterpart. However, the two-hole hitter Tyson Owens belted a solo home run on a 1-1 count. Korn bounced back and got the next two Kansas hitters out, but not before the Jayhawks went up 1-0 going into the second.
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Matthew Graveline opened the top of the second with a deep fly out to center field. Armani Guzman followed with a long eight-pitch at-bat that resulted in him reaching first off a passed ball from a dropped third strike.
He advanced to second just a few pitches later off another passed ball. Brodie Kresser grounded out to short for the second out of the inning but pushed Guzman to third. That’s where he would stay as WVU stranded runners on the corner again after Tyrus Hall struck out following a walk from Brock Wills.
Korn delivers with no run support
Still down 1-0, WVU gained some needed momentum after Graveline ended the inning with an improbable diving catch in left field and tagging out the runner at first base.
It looked like that newfound momentum was going to lead to a home run from Ineich on the first pitch, but it fell just short off the center field grass. Kelly worked a four-pitch walk on the next at-bat, but Shoenfeld hit a line drive right to Josh Dykhoff at first, which enabled him to simply tag the base all in one stride.
In the bottom of the third, Korn allowed a two-out single, but after a mound visit he reset and forced Owens to ground out.
On the other hand, Nayral continued to pitch efficiently and keep WVU from doing much of any damage on the base paths. He executed a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth.
After allowing a leadoff single from Cade Baldridge, Korn and the Mountaineer buckled down and recorded three outs in a row. Korn capped off the fourth inning with a punch out.
WVU quickly got two runners on first and second after leadoff singles from Kresser and Wills. Hall then successfully bunted them over an extra 90 feet.
After Kansas took a mound visit, Ineich miraculously made it to first with a check swing chopper towards Nayral. There may have been some luck involved but the birthday boy managed to load the bases with just one out.
Scheidt shuts down WVU
Toby Scheidt came in for relief of Nayral, and somehow got out of the bases loaded jam by forcing Kelly to pop out to right fielder Jordan Bach. Kresser attempted to tag up from third, but Bach gunned him down.
Korn managed to stay sharp though in the fifth, recording another punch out to start the inning. He allowed a lone walk, but no hits.
West Virginia’s struggles to find a way to score reared its ugly head once again in the sixth inning. After loading the bases with just one out, Kresser popped up to shallow right field and Wills grounded to short.
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The Kansas fans erupted when that final out was called by first plate umpire Casey Moser. At the same time, it felt like a cat losing one of its nine lives over in the WVU section. They were dead silent, almost in a state of pure shock as they watched their team strand three more runners.
Through six innings, the Mountaineers left eight runners on base, twice with the bases loaded.
After Korn walked a batter and hit the following one, Bach slapped an RBI single that got through the infield and scored Augusto Mungarrieta from second. That was it for Korn as he was replaced by Reese Bassinger.
Korn finished his night going 5.2 with just five hits allowed and two runs. Bassinger managed to weather the storm and get the final out of the sixth. But Kansas still held a 2-0 lead with three innings left.
Head Coach Steve Sabins had high praise for his starter in the post game press conference.
“Korn had an incredible outing after some relief work in the first game of the tournament,” Sabins said. “To be able to bounce back and give what he gave to the team in a really tight game was incredible.”
Kansas blows it open
Manning West replaced Scheidt in the seventh and allowed two runners on base. Once again though, WVU failed to capitalize as Schoenfeld grounded out for the final out of the frame.
Bassinger walked Dariel Osoria to lead off the inning, and Savion Flowers reached on a fielding error by Guzman. Tyson Leblanc took advantage of the free passes and ripped an RBI single to left field.
After Owens flew out, Cade Baldridge first on a fielder’s choice. With two runners on base, Dykhoff blasted a 449-foot home run to extend KU’s lead to four.
The Jayhawks weren’t done as Augusto Mungarrieta and Bach combined for back-to-back solo shots. Kansas went into the top of the eighth with a comfortable 8-0 lead.
It remained that deficit as the Mountaineers failed to record a base runner in eighth. WVU also failed to put any runs across in the ninth, falling short of winning the program’s first Big 12 championship.
More to come
While the Mountaineers failed to win the Big 12 championship, the season is far from over. This game will still leave a sore taste in many people’s mouth.
However, WVU is likely to host a regional next weekend, which will be crucial in its path to a third straight super regional.
The selection show for the seeding will be on Monday at 12 p.m. ET. That will be a huge deciding factor for the rest of WVU’s season.
Stay up to date with all that and much more right here at wvsportsnation.com.
