TUCSON, Ariz. (Feb. 24, 2023) – Mazey-ball at its finest! An 11th-inning straight-steal of home by JJ Wetherholt proved to be the difference, Friday night, as the West Virginia baseball team defeated Arizona, 6-5, at Hi Corbett Field. The Mountaineers improve to 3-2 on the season while the Wildcats fall to 3-2.
After doubling to lead off the inning, Wetherholt stole third and then with an 0-2 count on the batter and two outs in the inning, the sophomore dashed home as soon as he saw the pitcher put his head down. The Wildcat pitcher looked up and threw home, but it sailed high and off the catcher’s glove. On the season, Wetherholt is now 9-for-9 in stolen bases which puts him atop the nation’s leaderboard. It is also the second time a Mountaineer has had a straight steal of home in five games this season after Landon Wallace executed the play on opening night against Georgia Southern.
“That’s something we’ve practiced,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “We’ve talked about it if the situation ever arises and we had the right guy at third base. We figured let’s try and win the game.”
Wetherholt also delivered with his bat, going 3-for-6 with a home run and two RBI. Freshman Sam White went 4-for-5 while redshirt-senior Dayne Leonard also collected three base knocks.
On the mound, junior Ben Hampton battled his way through 6.2 innings while allowing just three runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and just one walk. Sophomore Keegan Allen and junior Carlson Reed also proved huge out of the pen late in the game with 3.1 combined scoreless innings and three strikeouts.
Hampton faced early trouble in the first inning as the first two batters tripled and doubled, respectively, to put a run on the board for the Wildcats. Arizona added another run on a bases-loaded double but a bad read by the Wildcat runner and a great relay from Caleb McNeely and Tevin Tucker to Leonard cut off a third run of the inning at the plate.
West Virginia tied it up in the third on Wetherholt’s two-run shot off the Terry Francona Hitting Center in right field. It was the first home run of the season for Wetherholt and the sixth of his career.
Arizona responded in the bottom of the third, scoring a run on a pop-fly double on a misplay by the Mountaineer outfield. After that, Hampton went into cruise control, retiring the next 11 batters he faced.
In the sixth, WVU took the lead as junior Braden Barry delivered with a two-run single off the shortstop’s glove to drive in freshman Ellis Garcia and White. The Mountaineers tacked on another run in the seventh on a run-scoring groundout from Garcia.
Walks proved to be costly to WVU in the eighth as Arizona scored twice to tie the game at five without a hit.
After getting the last of the eighth, Allen pitched a scoreless ninth to send the game to extra innings where Reed handled the final two innings to earn his first win of the season.
The two teams will me again tomorrow afternoon for game two of the series with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. EST.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
After doubling to lead off the inning, Wetherholt stole third and then with an 0-2 count on the batter and two outs in the inning, the sophomore dashed home as soon as he saw the pitcher put his head down. The Wildcat pitcher looked up and threw home, but it sailed high and off the catcher’s glove. On the season, Wetherholt is now 9-for-9 in stolen bases which puts him atop the nation’s leaderboard. It is also the second time a Mountaineer has had a straight steal of home in five games this season after Landon Wallace executed the play on opening night against Georgia Southern.
“That’s something we’ve practiced,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “We’ve talked about it if the situation ever arises and we had the right guy at third base. We figured let’s try and win the game.”
Wetherholt also delivered with his bat, going 3-for-6 with a home run and two RBI. Freshman Sam White went 4-for-5 while redshirt-senior Dayne Leonard also collected three base knocks.
On the mound, junior Ben Hampton battled his way through 6.2 innings while allowing just three runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and just one walk. Sophomore Keegan Allen and junior Carlson Reed also proved huge out of the pen late in the game with 3.1 combined scoreless innings and three strikeouts.
Hampton faced early trouble in the first inning as the first two batters tripled and doubled, respectively, to put a run on the board for the Wildcats. Arizona added another run on a bases-loaded double but a bad read by the Wildcat runner and a great relay from Caleb McNeely and Tevin Tucker to Leonard cut off a third run of the inning at the plate.
West Virginia tied it up in the third on Wetherholt’s two-run shot off the Terry Francona Hitting Center in right field. It was the first home run of the season for Wetherholt and the sixth of his career.
Arizona responded in the bottom of the third, scoring a run on a pop-fly double on a misplay by the Mountaineer outfield. After that, Hampton went into cruise control, retiring the next 11 batters he faced.
In the sixth, WVU took the lead as junior Braden Barry delivered with a two-run single off the shortstop’s glove to drive in freshman Ellis Garcia and White. The Mountaineers tacked on another run in the seventh on a run-scoring groundout from Garcia.
Walks proved to be costly to WVU in the eighth as Arizona scored twice to tie the game at five without a hit.
After getting the last of the eighth, Allen pitched a scoreless ninth to send the game to extra innings where Reed handled the final two innings to earn his first win of the season.
The two teams will me again tomorrow afternoon for game two of the series with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. EST.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
