MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (March 22, 2023) – Freshman Sam White hit a walk-off single Wednesday afternoon for the West Virginia baseball team as it defeated Hofstra, 6-5, in 10 innings. The 24th-ranked Mountaineers improve to 16-5 on the season while the Pride fall to 7-13.
White finished the game 3-for-6 with three RBI while fellow freshman Logan Sauve reached base five times with two hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch, driving in a run and scoring once as well.
“Sam [White] hasn’t been swinging it all that great lately, but you give a guy some motivation, that can be a dangerous thing,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “It was just a game we really had to grind out, but we did it. Playing in games like this is great experience for us.”
On the mound, sophomore Keegan Allen picked up his first win of the season with two perfect high-pressure innings to end the game. Freshman Carson Estridge also shined out of the pen with three strikeouts in 2.0 scoreless innings.
The game was one of the wildest of the year so far as the Mountaineers were hit eight times and the game featured seven video reviews.
As they did yesterday, WVU jumped out an early 2-0 lead after one inning as White hit a single to knock in redshirt-seniors Caleb McNeely and Dayne Leonard.
After a quiet second inning by both teams, the Pride evened things up in the third on a two-run single.
In the fourth, with a runner on third and no outs, Sauve tried to lay down a bunt, but fouled the ball off twice. With two strikes, he swung the bat and punched a single to left to put WVU back on top.
After Hofstra tied it back up in the fifth, the Mountaineers re-took the lead in the sixth on a wild pitch. West Virginia had chances to extend their lead but on two occasions, the Mountaineers were thrown out at the plate.
In the eighth, Hofstra took advantage of the wind blowing out to left as Kevin Bruggeman hit a two-run home run to take a 5-4 lead.
The Mountaineers responded in the home half as sophomore JJ Wetherholt came home to score on a safety squeeze by McNeely.
Neither team scored in the ninth as the game went to extras where McNeely provided the defensive play of the game, jumping into the camera well to snag a foul pop up in the top of the tenth.
McNeely then started a two-out rally in the bottom of the innin with a double before coming home with the winning run on White’s single to center. It was the first walk-off of the season for WVU and the first since May 4 of last year against Charleston.
The Mountaineers will return to Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark this weekend for a three-game series against Xavier. First pitch on Friday is currently set for 6:30 p.m. but could change based on expected inclement weather.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
White finished the game 3-for-6 with three RBI while fellow freshman Logan Sauve reached base five times with two hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch, driving in a run and scoring once as well.
“Sam [White] hasn’t been swinging it all that great lately, but you give a guy some motivation, that can be a dangerous thing,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “It was just a game we really had to grind out, but we did it. Playing in games like this is great experience for us.”
On the mound, sophomore Keegan Allen picked up his first win of the season with two perfect high-pressure innings to end the game. Freshman Carson Estridge also shined out of the pen with three strikeouts in 2.0 scoreless innings.
The game was one of the wildest of the year so far as the Mountaineers were hit eight times and the game featured seven video reviews.
As they did yesterday, WVU jumped out an early 2-0 lead after one inning as White hit a single to knock in redshirt-seniors Caleb McNeely and Dayne Leonard.
After a quiet second inning by both teams, the Pride evened things up in the third on a two-run single.
In the fourth, with a runner on third and no outs, Sauve tried to lay down a bunt, but fouled the ball off twice. With two strikes, he swung the bat and punched a single to left to put WVU back on top.
After Hofstra tied it back up in the fifth, the Mountaineers re-took the lead in the sixth on a wild pitch. West Virginia had chances to extend their lead but on two occasions, the Mountaineers were thrown out at the plate.
In the eighth, Hofstra took advantage of the wind blowing out to left as Kevin Bruggeman hit a two-run home run to take a 5-4 lead.
The Mountaineers responded in the home half as sophomore JJ Wetherholt came home to score on a safety squeeze by McNeely.
Neither team scored in the ninth as the game went to extras where McNeely provided the defensive play of the game, jumping into the camera well to snag a foul pop up in the top of the tenth.
McNeely then started a two-out rally in the bottom of the innin with a double before coming home with the winning run on White’s single to center. It was the first walk-off of the season for WVU and the first since May 4 of last year against Charleston.
The Mountaineers will return to Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark this weekend for a three-game series against Xavier. First pitch on Friday is currently set for 6:30 p.m. but could change based on expected inclement weather.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
