MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (May 3, 2023) – The West Virginia baseball team picked up its ninth straight victory, Wednesday night, with a 10-0 seven-inning win over Pitt at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark. The Mountaineers have also now won four straight editions of the Backyard Brawl and improve to 34-11 this season while the Panthers fall to 20-22
“This atmosphere has got the guys so energized,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “We did not give away any at-bats tonight. Our guys are ready to play and make this whole community proud of what they are doing. The new guys are also getting a sense of what this rivalry is about and how the fans feel about it.”
In front of 4,070 fans, a new regular-season record and third most all-time, two freshman pitchers combined for the shutout. Carson Estridge earned the win with four scoreless innings, striking out seven while Gavin Van Kempen tossed the final three, allowing just one hit and striking out three.
Sophomore JJ Wetherholt went 3-for-4 to raise his batting average to .470 on the season. His night included his team-leading 12th home run of the season as well as three RBI. Junior Landon Wallace also had three hits and three RBI while redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely hit his 10th home run of the season.
Wallace gave the Mountaineers the early lead in the first with an RBI single to score Wetherholt who had singled and stole his 32nd base of the season earlier in the inning.
In the second, McNeely hit a line drive home run to put WVU up 2-0. The Mountaineers doubled their lead again in the third with two runs from a single by Wallace and groundout by junior Braden Barry.
Wetherholt provided the big blow in the fourth with a three-run home run, taking an 0-1 pitch the other way for his fourth home run in five games.
Wallace and Barry drove in two more runs in the sixth with back-to-back singles before freshman Ellis Garcia ended the game in the seventh with a double down the third-base line to score McNeely from first.
The Mountaineers will stay home this weekend for a three-game series against Oklahoma. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
“This atmosphere has got the guys so energized,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “We did not give away any at-bats tonight. Our guys are ready to play and make this whole community proud of what they are doing. The new guys are also getting a sense of what this rivalry is about and how the fans feel about it.”
In front of 4,070 fans, a new regular-season record and third most all-time, two freshman pitchers combined for the shutout. Carson Estridge earned the win with four scoreless innings, striking out seven while Gavin Van Kempen tossed the final three, allowing just one hit and striking out three.
Sophomore JJ Wetherholt went 3-for-4 to raise his batting average to .470 on the season. His night included his team-leading 12th home run of the season as well as three RBI. Junior Landon Wallace also had three hits and three RBI while redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely hit his 10th home run of the season.
Wallace gave the Mountaineers the early lead in the first with an RBI single to score Wetherholt who had singled and stole his 32nd base of the season earlier in the inning.
In the second, McNeely hit a line drive home run to put WVU up 2-0. The Mountaineers doubled their lead again in the third with two runs from a single by Wallace and groundout by junior Braden Barry.
Wetherholt provided the big blow in the fourth with a three-run home run, taking an 0-1 pitch the other way for his fourth home run in five games.
Wallace and Barry drove in two more runs in the sixth with back-to-back singles before freshman Ellis Garcia ended the game in the seventh with a double down the third-base line to score McNeely from first.
The Mountaineers will stay home this weekend for a three-game series against Oklahoma. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
