STILLWATER, Okla. (April 14, 2023) – Having dropped three of its last four games, the West Virginia baseball team responded, Friday night, with a 6-3 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State at O’Brate Stadium. The Mountaineers improve to 24-10 overall and 4-3 in the Big 12 while the Cowboys drop to 23-12 and 7-6 in conference play.
“It’s great anytime you can win on the road,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “It wasn’t pretty as we left a lot of guys on base, but Hampton and Reed were good, and we scored just enough to win.”
Sophomore JJ Wetherholt had three hits on the night including a leadoff home run to begin the game. Graduate student Dayne Leonard also had three hits on the night and drove in two runs.
On the mound, junior Ben Hampton earned the win by throwing 6.0 innings with three strikeouts while allowing three runs. Junior Carlson Reed earned the three-inning save, allowing just one hit while striking out six.
After Wetherholt’s leadoff home run, the Mountaineers pushed a second run across in the inning as sophomore Grant Hussey was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
In the second inning, the two teams traded runs as junior Landon Wallace hit an RBI single before OSU’s Carson Benge hit a solo home run.
After a couple of scoreless innings, Leonard extended the WVU lead in the fifth with a two-out RBI single.
The Cowboys got within one with two runs in the home half, but Hampton stranded the tying run at third with a groundout.
Hampton came back out for the sixth and retired the side in order before Leonard tacked on a run in the top of the seventh with another single.
Reed entered the game in the seventh and proceeded to strike out the side, touching 98 on the radar gun.
He faced some trouble in the eighth as the Cowboys put runners on second and third with two outs. Needing to make a big pitch, he induced a soft grounder up the middle where shortstop Tevin Tucker scooped it up and made a running throw to first to end the inning.
Redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely gave WVU some insurance in the ninth with an RBI single. Reed did not need it, however, as he struck out the first two guys before getting a groundout to second to clinch the victory.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow for game two of the series with first pitch set for 7 p.m. ET.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
“It’s great anytime you can win on the road,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “It wasn’t pretty as we left a lot of guys on base, but Hampton and Reed were good, and we scored just enough to win.”
Sophomore JJ Wetherholt had three hits on the night including a leadoff home run to begin the game. Graduate student Dayne Leonard also had three hits on the night and drove in two runs.
On the mound, junior Ben Hampton earned the win by throwing 6.0 innings with three strikeouts while allowing three runs. Junior Carlson Reed earned the three-inning save, allowing just one hit while striking out six.
After Wetherholt’s leadoff home run, the Mountaineers pushed a second run across in the inning as sophomore Grant Hussey was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
In the second inning, the two teams traded runs as junior Landon Wallace hit an RBI single before OSU’s Carson Benge hit a solo home run.
After a couple of scoreless innings, Leonard extended the WVU lead in the fifth with a two-out RBI single.
The Cowboys got within one with two runs in the home half, but Hampton stranded the tying run at third with a groundout.
Hampton came back out for the sixth and retired the side in order before Leonard tacked on a run in the top of the seventh with another single.
Reed entered the game in the seventh and proceeded to strike out the side, touching 98 on the radar gun.
He faced some trouble in the eighth as the Cowboys put runners on second and third with two outs. Needing to make a big pitch, he induced a soft grounder up the middle where shortstop Tevin Tucker scooped it up and made a running throw to first to end the inning.
Redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely gave WVU some insurance in the ninth with an RBI single. Reed did not need it, however, as he struck out the first two guys before getting a groundout to second to clinch the victory.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow for game two of the series with first pitch set for 7 p.m. ET.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
