WVU overcomes sloppy play to down Herd

On the first, Wetherholt dashed home from second base on Braden Barry’s flyout to right center when Herd rightfielder Elijah Vogelsong fell down while securing the ball in the seventh, and one inning later, drew a throw on an attempted steal and stopped midway to second, allowing Tevin Tucker to score from third before he was tagged. Those two runs proved decisive in WVU’s 53rd all-time win over the Herd.

The pitching issues began early, as WVU starter Aidan Major got off to a shaky start, taking 19 pitches to get out of a first inning in which he hit two Herdsmen and yielded a run. Things got worse in the second, as he walked the leadoff batter and hit another with two out, then yielded a triple to Luke Edwards that scored both. Major got only five outs while giving up three runs (two earned) on just one hit, but it was the three hit batsmen and a walk that really did the damage. He threw just 23 strikes on 42 pitches before giving way to Carson Estridge, who recorded a four-pitch strikeout to end the second.

In between those two at-bats, though, West Virginia also smacked the ball around and finally capitalized on a bases-loaded situation. Dayne Leonard singled home JJ Wetherholt for WVU’s first run, and after Sam White singled and Ellis Garcia was hit by a pitch, Landon Wallace went deep to centerfield for a triple off the wall to clear the bases.

The teams then traded runs, with West Virginia scoring an a Caleb McNeely RBI double, and the Herd (11-11) responding with a run on a WVU throw from the infield into its own dugout, putting the score at 5-4.

After Estridge stranded a pair in the third (his 1 1/3 scoreless innings earned him the win), Cole Fehrman gave up one of the Marshall runs, but David Hagaman worked two scoreless innings to get WVU into closer range for the final two innings.

The back and forth action then continued in in the sixth, with WVU getting two runs on a Caleb McNeely RBI double play and a Sam White solo homer, but the Herd again answered, this time with an RBI double. WVU shot right back on Barry’s sac fly and Wetherholt’s dash, but then it was the Herd’s run to double up, as it scored two in the eighth courtesy of a walk and two WVU throwing errors to draw within one at 8-7. That set the stage for the heads-up baserunning of Wetherholt and Tucker, giving WVU its final two-run cushion.

McNeely, White and Wallace each had two hits for WVU, while Leonard and White each scored twice. Ellis Garcia absorbed two of the four pitches which hit Mountaineer batters. Carlson Reed allowed a run, but still earned a save while striking out five over two innings of work.

West Virginia now embarks on its conference schedule, with eight weekend series, four home and four on the road, dominating the back half of the regular season schedule. There are also six mid-week non-conference games remaining on the slate, but the league games will be the biggest determining factor in whether or not the Mountaineers will make a return, or earn a good seed, in NCAA postseason play.

First up is a road trip to Kansas for a three-game set against K-State, which is 18-8 after scoring eight runs in the last three i nnings of a 12-9 win over Air Force. The Cats, who will play the Falcons again on Wednesday before heading home to host WVU, got an early start on the conference season and stand 4-2 so far, with one win against Baylor and a sweep of Oklahoma putting them in a tie for second in the league.

Allen and Reed combined for eight strikeouts, accounting for all but one of the outs in the final three frames.

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WVU pitchers hit three Herd batters, while Marshall pitchers plunked four Mountaineers. Those miscues led to four runs, two for each side.

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Wetherholt had another outstanding game with three hits, a walk, a double, two runs scored and a steal, but in a perfect exhibition of “that’s baseball” he also left five runners on base, with his only two outs at the plate coming with three and two runners on, respectively.

That was part of WVU’s cadre of 13 runners left aboard, although the Mountaineers were 6-19 with at least one base occupied.

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WVU’s Estridge produced the only Marshall fly ball out in the game. The Herd beat 12 grounders into the turf for outs, and Mountaineer pitchers accounted for the other 14 retirements with strikeouts.