In Third Straight One-Run Game, WVU Tops No. 4 Texas Tech
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (May 7, 2017) – The West Virginia University baseball team beat No. 4 Texas Tech, 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Monongalia County Ballpark.
In the third consecutive one-run game between the two teams, the Mountaineers (27-19, 11-10 Big 12) won the series finale thanks to a run in the fourth inning and two unearned runs on three errors in the fifth inning. The Red Raiders (39-13, 13-8 Big 12) scored two runs on seven hits.
In the three-game series, West Virginia held Texas Tech, the league’s best offensive team, to five earned runs on 24 hits.
“That’s as good of a weekend as we can have under the circumstances, with the rain, the injuries and the freshmen that went out there and pitched,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “Cody Wood, who got the save right there, he’s the same guy that was out there two weeks ago against TCU that couldn’t throw a strike and got caught up in the moment. This team is growing up, they’re growing up and playing with the best teams in the country. That might be the best team in the United States right there, that we came in and played three one-run games with and obviously could have won more than that, but I’m super proud. We went into this game with four-five pitchers available to pitch, and we pitched almost all of them and they all did great.”
Freshman right-hander Alek Manoah got the start and pitched 4.2 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Senior righty Jackson Sigman came in and got a strikeout to end the fifth inning, and he earned his third win of the season.
Sophomore Braden Zarbnisky followed with 3.0 innings, allowing just two hits. Freshman Cody Wood pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his first career save.
Offensively, freshman third baseman Kevin Brophy and sophomore shortstop Cole Austin each had two hits and an RBI. Zarbnisky led the team with three hits.
Both the Mountaineers and Red Raiders stranded two runners in the first inning, and WVU stranded another two in the second. Both teams left 10 runners on base in the contest.
TTU got on the board with a run on a sacrifice fly in the third inning to take an early 3-0 lead.
The Mountaineers responded in the bottom of the fourth, as Brophy drove in sophomore right fielder Darius Hill with a single through the right side.
Texas Tech regained the lead, at 2-1, in the fifth inning with the help of two errors. West Virginia answered right back in the bottom half though, also taking advantage of several TTU errors to regain the lead at 3-2.
Zarbnisky led off the inning with a single to the pitcher and advanced to second on a throwing error. He then attempted to steal third, but an errant throw again by the TTU pitcher allowed Zarbnisky to score. With two outs and runners on first and second, Austin singled to right to bring home Hill from second.
In the sixth, Zarbnisky used a caught-stealing to help him escape a jam with two runners on and two outs. He threw a perfect seventh inning before stranding another two runners in the eighth.
Wood came in in the ninth inning and gave up a leadoff single but did not allow the Red Raiders to do any further damage.
NOTES: West Virginia improves to 27-19 on the season, 11-10 in Big 12 play and 11-7 at home … WVU is 9-6 against top-25 opponents in 2017 and 3-3 against teams ranked in the top five … Jackson Sigman earned the win, pitching 0.1 innings with a strikeout, and improved to 3-3 on the season … Cody Wood earned his first career save with a scoreless ninth inning … With a pair of walks, Kyle Davis’ reached-base streak was extended to a season-best 16 games … In the three-game series, WVU held Texas Tech, the Big 12’s best offense, to five earned runs on 24 hits with a .250 batting average and 21 strikeouts.
Single game tickets, flex plan tickets and mini packs for the 2017 WVU baseball season are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, going to WVUGAME.com or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office in the WVU Coliseum. The 2017 schedule is available on WVUsports.com.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit WVUsports.com.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (May 7, 2017) – The West Virginia University baseball team beat No. 4 Texas Tech, 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Monongalia County Ballpark.
In the third consecutive one-run game between the two teams, the Mountaineers (27-19, 11-10 Big 12) won the series finale thanks to a run in the fourth inning and two unearned runs on three errors in the fifth inning. The Red Raiders (39-13, 13-8 Big 12) scored two runs on seven hits.
In the three-game series, West Virginia held Texas Tech, the league’s best offensive team, to five earned runs on 24 hits.
“That’s as good of a weekend as we can have under the circumstances, with the rain, the injuries and the freshmen that went out there and pitched,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “Cody Wood, who got the save right there, he’s the same guy that was out there two weeks ago against TCU that couldn’t throw a strike and got caught up in the moment. This team is growing up, they’re growing up and playing with the best teams in the country. That might be the best team in the United States right there, that we came in and played three one-run games with and obviously could have won more than that, but I’m super proud. We went into this game with four-five pitchers available to pitch, and we pitched almost all of them and they all did great.”
Freshman right-hander Alek Manoah got the start and pitched 4.2 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Senior righty Jackson Sigman came in and got a strikeout to end the fifth inning, and he earned his third win of the season.
Sophomore Braden Zarbnisky followed with 3.0 innings, allowing just two hits. Freshman Cody Wood pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his first career save.
Offensively, freshman third baseman Kevin Brophy and sophomore shortstop Cole Austin each had two hits and an RBI. Zarbnisky led the team with three hits.
Both the Mountaineers and Red Raiders stranded two runners in the first inning, and WVU stranded another two in the second. Both teams left 10 runners on base in the contest.
TTU got on the board with a run on a sacrifice fly in the third inning to take an early 3-0 lead.
The Mountaineers responded in the bottom of the fourth, as Brophy drove in sophomore right fielder Darius Hill with a single through the right side.
Texas Tech regained the lead, at 2-1, in the fifth inning with the help of two errors. West Virginia answered right back in the bottom half though, also taking advantage of several TTU errors to regain the lead at 3-2.
Zarbnisky led off the inning with a single to the pitcher and advanced to second on a throwing error. He then attempted to steal third, but an errant throw again by the TTU pitcher allowed Zarbnisky to score. With two outs and runners on first and second, Austin singled to right to bring home Hill from second.
In the sixth, Zarbnisky used a caught-stealing to help him escape a jam with two runners on and two outs. He threw a perfect seventh inning before stranding another two runners in the eighth.
Wood came in in the ninth inning and gave up a leadoff single but did not allow the Red Raiders to do any further damage.
NOTES: West Virginia improves to 27-19 on the season, 11-10 in Big 12 play and 11-7 at home … WVU is 9-6 against top-25 opponents in 2017 and 3-3 against teams ranked in the top five … Jackson Sigman earned the win, pitching 0.1 innings with a strikeout, and improved to 3-3 on the season … Cody Wood earned his first career save with a scoreless ninth inning … With a pair of walks, Kyle Davis’ reached-base streak was extended to a season-best 16 games … In the three-game series, WVU held Texas Tech, the Big 12’s best offense, to five earned runs on 24 hits with a .250 batting average and 21 strikeouts.
Single game tickets, flex plan tickets and mini packs for the 2017 WVU baseball season are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, going to WVUGAME.com or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office in the WVU Coliseum. The 2017 schedule is available on WVUsports.com.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit WVUsports.com.