It was unlikely it would come easily for West Virginia on Sunday, with the Mountaineers on the verge of winning the Big 12 regular season title as well as setting the single-season record for wins in a season.
The Mountaineers took an 8-7 lead in the seventh on a three-run home run from Sam White, but the West Virginia bullpen gave away a late-game lead for the third time this week as WVU lost 14-9, dropping the series to K-State, and keeping the Mountaineers still a win away from a Big 12 title.
Reese Bassinger and Carson Estridge were on the wrong side of WVU’s collapse on Friday night to KSU when the Mountaineers gave up six runs in the final frame. On Sunday, Bassinger looked like a different version of himself until the eighth inning, as the Mountaineers once again struggled to slow down the Wildcats.
Bassinger hit the first batter of the inning before giving up a double, putting runners on second and third with no outs. In came Estridge, who gave up back-to-back singles as Kansas State took the 9-8 lead.
The damage wasn’t done there as Estridge walked the next batter he faced to load the bases with one out. Estridge surrendered another single as KSU added another run, and outs seemed to come at a premium.
The next batter, Seth Dardar, hit a grand slam to left field, putting the stamp on the meltdown from the Mountaineers’ bullpen as Kansas State batted around in the inning.
White’s blast in the seventh seemed massive for the Mountaineers. WVU trailed 7-3 in the sixth, scoring two in that frame on a double by White, followed by a single from Chase Swain, and then White scored on a passed ball, cutting WVU’s lead to 7-5. In the seventh, it was a walk, a single, and then a fielder’s choice, putting two runners on with two outs. In stepped White, who on a 1-2 count, ripped a 364-foot home run over the right field wall, giving WVU the lead, and putting them nine outs away from a Big 12 title.
West Virginia got the scoring going in the second inning as Jace Rinehart doubled, before Swain drove him in on a sac-fly. WVU added two more runs in the third, as Logan Sauve ripped a two-run double down the left field line, putting WVU ahead 3-0.
Jack Kartsonas got the start for West Virginia, entering the day with a 1.84 ERA. Kartsonas was not his usual self as Kansas State jumped on him early and often. The Wildcats scored two in the third and two more in the fourth, as Kartsonas would only pitch four total innings. He finished the day allowing four runs on eight hits, striking out four, while throwing 74 pitches and getting 12 outs.
Kansas State took a lead in the fifth, as they went double, single, single, sac-fly, scoring three runs in the span of four batters, taking a 7-3 lead. That is where the score stood until the sixth, when WVU added the two runs, before the Mountaineers took the lead in the seventh.
KSU ended up scoring seven runs in the bottom of the eighth, and West Virginia has now allowed 18 runs in the eighth or ninth innings in their four games this week.
Estridge finished throwing 0.2 innings, allowing five runs on four hits, walking one, on 19 pitches.
West Virginia attempted to make things interesting in the ninth, getting multiple runners on base, as they added one run on a double from Swain. The next two Mountaineers, Grant Hussey and Gavin Kelly, and Brodie Kresser would all strikeout to end the game.
With the loss, West Virginia dropped their second Big 12 series of the season and marked a 1-3 finish to the week.
The Mountaineers finish the regular season at home on Thursday, with a three-game series against Kansas.
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