No. 12 West Virginia entered the ninth inning leading 9-5. The ninth inning ended with West Virginia falling as hard as the rain in Pittsburgh as they lost to rival Pitt 10-9.
West Virginia jumped on Pittsburgh in the top of the first as they had traffic on the bases early. Kyle West walked and Jace Rinehart doubled before Sam White singled to plate West. Rinehart scored on a fielder’s choice on a creative slide at home, before White scored on a ground out to put WVU ahead 3-0.
Chase Meyer got the start for WVU on the mound and he would do just what his team needed. Meyer allowed base runners in both innings, but finished his night with no runs allowed.
Bryant Yoak came into pitch in the third for WVU and it was bad from the start. He hit a batter, walked a batter, and gave up a single, loading the bases with no outs. Ben McDougal came into the game and gave up a walk and then a two-run single, as WVU’s lead was cut to 4-3.
Tyler Hutson was then asked to come and get out of the jam, which he would do successfully, keeping WVU’s lead intact.
That lead would get to 4-3 as Kyle West hit his second home run in as many games, an opposite field blast in the second inning.
West Virginia’s offense got back on the board in the sixth, as West would single to score Grant Hussey, before White later scored Gavin Kelly on a deep foul out to left field, putting WVU ahead 6-3.
Pitt answered right back, scoring two in the bottom of the inning of Hutson on a two-run home run by Sebastian Pisacreta. The Panthers then appeared tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh on a home run, but it was eventually ruled foul.
Pitt would not stop the threat there though as David Hagen walked the next three batters he faced to load the bases with one out.
West Virginia turned to Carson Estridge to try and escape the jam, their normal weekend closer. Estridge would do what his team needed, getting two strikeouts to strand the bases loaded as WVU still led 6-5.
West Virginia would answer following the two strikeouts as free passes put two on with no outs. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch before Rinehart delivered a single up the middle to score two and extend WVU’s lead to 8-5.
WVU added another insurance run in the ninth as Brodie Kresser walked, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch on the same play. Hussey then bunted home Kresser, to put West Virginia ahead 9-5.
Estridge stayed in the game and tossed a scoreless eighth, before he had a runway to work with in the ninth. He lasted just a batter and a half in the ninth as he hit the first batter he faced, before losing the second batter to a 2-0 count.
In cam Ben Hudson, with a runner on first and no outs, needing to close out the win.
Jayden Melendez made things interesting as he hit a three-run home run, putting the score at 9-8 and WVU still needing three outs. Hudson surrendered a single to the next batter, as Mac Stiffler was called upon to try and close the win.
Stiffler gave up a single then hit a batter to load the bases with no outs. In cam Reese Bassinger who gave up a run on a ground out and then he got another ground ball, but it was fumbled in the rain by Armani Guzman, allowing the winning run to score.
Up next, WVU looks to inch closer to a Big 12 title this weekend against Kansas State.
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