The motto for this weekend for West Virginia this weekend is simple — it’s not over until it’s over.
On Friday, it was a walk-off win. On Saturday, it was scoring four runs in the eighth to beat host Clemson.
On Sunday, it was scoring six runs in the ninth inning as the Mountaineers erased two separate five-run deficits, beating Kentucky, 13-12, sweeping their way through the Clemson Regional and advancing to the Super Regionals for the second season in a row.
West Virginia scored all six runs in the eighth inning with two outs, as they kept the line moving, and then in the bottom of the inning, Griffin Kirn, who threw 118 pitches on Friday, shut the door on the Wildcats, pushing WVU to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
West Virginia used a bases-loaded walk, a two-run single from Gavin Kelly, a two-run single from Ben Lumsden, and then an RBI single from Armani Guzman, to take the lead in the ninth.
In the bottom of the inning, Kirn allowed a one-out single, before getting two more outs to close the door.
At this stage in the weekend, both teams were trying to find anyone who could throw strikes and keep their team in the game on the mound.
WVU starting pitcher Robby Porco could not do that as he took 21 pitches to get out of the first inning, before his lack of command caught up to him in the second.
Porco got a strikeout, before he walked the next three batters he faced, loading the bases and ending his night. In came Reese Bassinger, pitching for the third time in as many days, as the first batter hit a single to score two, before an infield single loaded the bases again. That’s until Cole Hage delivered another two-run single, putting the Wildcats ahead 4-1.
Kentucky starting pitcher Scott Rouse was almost as efficient as possible early on. He threw 12 pitches in the first inning, and then combined to throw 11 more in the second and third innings, and they couldn’t get anything going on offense, trailing 6-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
West Virginia’s offense came alive in the fourth, as two singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with one out. West Virginia ended up sending nine batters to the plate without recording an out, as the Mountaineers took a 7-6 lead, scoring six runs in the inning.
Kentucky answered right back in the fifth with two more runs of their own, and they didn’t look back after that point.
The Wildcats scored twice in the fifth on a single and a walk, as WVU pitching struggled to find the strike zone consistently.
West Virginia’s bats slowed after the fourth inning, before they had a serious chance to get back into the game in the sixth inning.
Trailing 11-7, WVU loaded the bases with two outs, as Grant Hussey came off the bench to hit for Jace Rinehart. Hussey chased two early pitches in the at-bat before he was able to square a ball up, hitting it to the wall in left field, but the ball was caught with Kentucky’s Cole Hage potentially robbing Hussey of a game-tying grand slam.
Kentucky added to their lead in the eighth, as Devin Burkes hit a solo home run to left, while the Mountaineers didn’t match the Wildcats on the mound or at the plate.
That was until the eighth inning, as the Mountaineers erupted offensively, sending them three outs away from winning the Clemson Regional.
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