MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 8, 2023) – The West Virginia baseball team could not find the clutch hit, Saturday afternoon, as the Mountaineers fell to Kansas, 10-7, at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark. WVU drops to 22-9 on the season and 2-3 in the Big 12 while the Jayhawks improve to 15-14 and 5-3 in conference play.
“We’ve been super passive when guys get into scoring position,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “Taking the first strike, not ready to hit, and that’s something we’ve got to address.”
The Mountaineers struggled with runners in scoring position as they went 1-for-13 with the only hit being a two-run home run by freshman Logan Sauve, the first of his career. The other five runs for WVU came on two sacrifice flies, two groundouts, and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.
After WVU took a 3-0 lead in the second on a sacrifice fly from redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely and Sauve’s two-run home run, the Jayhawks got one run in the fourth before bursting out in the fifth with five runs, which included a go-ahead three-run home run from Cole Elvis.
West Virginia got back within one in the sixth as Sauve was hit with the bases loaded before graduate student Tevin Tucker hit a sacrifice fly.
Kansas extended its lead back to two with a run in the seventh and again the Mountaineers cut it to one in the home half with a run-scoring groundout from freshman Sam White.
In the eighth, the Jayhawks tacked on three insurance runs. In the bottom of the inning, WVU once again traded an out for a run as graduate Dayne Leonard had an RBI groundout. In the ninth, the Mountaineers got the tying run to the plate with two outs, but a strikeout ended the game.
WVU will look to salvage the final game of the series on Sunday. The game will air on ESPNU with first pitch set for 3 p.m.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
“We’ve been super passive when guys get into scoring position,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “Taking the first strike, not ready to hit, and that’s something we’ve got to address.”
The Mountaineers struggled with runners in scoring position as they went 1-for-13 with the only hit being a two-run home run by freshman Logan Sauve, the first of his career. The other five runs for WVU came on two sacrifice flies, two groundouts, and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.
After WVU took a 3-0 lead in the second on a sacrifice fly from redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely and Sauve’s two-run home run, the Jayhawks got one run in the fourth before bursting out in the fifth with five runs, which included a go-ahead three-run home run from Cole Elvis.
West Virginia got back within one in the sixth as Sauve was hit with the bases loaded before graduate student Tevin Tucker hit a sacrifice fly.
Kansas extended its lead back to two with a run in the seventh and again the Mountaineers cut it to one in the home half with a run-scoring groundout from freshman Sam White.
In the eighth, the Jayhawks tacked on three insurance runs. In the bottom of the inning, WVU once again traded an out for a run as graduate Dayne Leonard had an RBI groundout. In the ninth, the Mountaineers got the tying run to the plate with two outs, but a strikeout ended the game.
WVU will look to salvage the final game of the series on Sunday. The game will air on ESPNU with first pitch set for 3 p.m.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
