West Virginia baseball swept their fourth series in a row on Sunday as they beat UCF, 4-3 from John Euliano Park in Orlando, Fla.
After the bullpen did the majority of the work each of the last two nights, it was starting pitcher Jack Kartsonas who gave the Mountaineers another quality start, helping propel them to their 14th straight victory in Big 12 play.
Kartsonas pitched into the seventh inning, finishing the night with 6.2 innings pitched, striking out five in the process. While he allowed nine hits, he stranded nine on base, allowing three total runs.
WVU's offense got on the board in the first inning for the second night in a row, as Jace Rinehart doubled to score Skylar King, putting WVU ahead 1-0.
The Knights tied the game in the bottom of the inning, as they doubled twice, before they took a 2-1 lead in the second as a hit by pitch ended up hurting Kartsonas, as he allowed a run on a double.
West Virginia retook the lead in the fifth, putting up three runs in the inning. It was Rinehart who came inches away from a home run, smashing a two-run double to right-centerfield, before Sam White singled to score Rinehart as WVU led 4-2.
UCF grabbed a run back in the sixth, on a single, threatening again in the seventh.
Kartsonas grabbed two quick outs in the seventh before he gave up a two-out double. That ended his afternoon as WVU turned to Ben McDougal, who got an inning-ending pop out to escape the jam and keep WVU's 4-3 lead intact.
McDougal stayed in the game to pitch for the Mountaineers, going 1-2-3 in the eighth, as WVU's high-leverage arms, such as Chase Meyer, Reese Bassinger, and Carson Estridge, had all pitched each of the last two nights.
McDougal stayed in the game to close things out, tossing a perfect ninth inning. He finished the final 2.1 innings of the game, allowing no runs and no hits.
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