MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 9, 2023) – After dropping the first two games of the series, the No. 24 West Virginia baseball team took care of business on Sunday, defeating Kansas, 12-3, at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark. The Mountaineers improve to 23-9 on the season and 3-3 in the Big 12 while the Jayhawks fall to 15-15 and 5-4 in conference play.
Freshman Robby Porco was stellar in just his second start of the season as he struck out 12 batters in 6.0 innings while allowing just two runs, only one of which was earned. The dozen strikeouts for Porco are the most for a Mountaineer pitcher this season.
“Porco’s performance came in the nick of the time of us,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “When we don’t do well on Friday and Saturday, somebody has to step up and salvage the series for us so that was a very encouraging performance for the rest of the season.”
At the plate, junior Landon Wallace hit two home runs and scored three runs while sophomore Grant Hussey added his seventh home run of the season. Sophomore JJ Wetherholt also added three hits to tick his average up to .448 on the season.
The day did not get off to a good start for the Mountaineers as three defensive misplays on the first three balls put in play allowed a run to come home for the Jayhawks. Porco showed great poise after that and got the next three guys out with a couple of strikeouts to limit the damage.
In the bottom of the first, WVU took advantage of wild pitching from the Jayhawks as the Mountaineers scored five runs on two hits, two walks and three hit-by-pitches. The only run-scoring hit in the inning came off the bat of Hussey as he had an RBI single.
Kansas got one run back in the third with a home run, but the Mountaineers answered with two in the fourth, getting a solo home run from Wallace and an RBI double from junior Braden Barry.
Wallace added his second home run of the game in the sixth, a near repeat of his shot earlier, going opposite field into the WVU bullpen.
In the seventh, Hussey muscled a home run to straightaway center field off the batter’s eye to extend the WVU lead to 9-2.
The Jayhawks got one run in the eighth, but West Virginia put the finishing touches on the game in the home half, scoring three runs. A run-scoring groundout from Wallace put the Mountaineers in double-digits before back-to-back doubles by redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely and Barry added two more runs.
Freshman Carson Estridge pitched the final three innings with a pair of strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.
The Mountaineers will hit the road this week for four games beginning with Penn State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before heading to Stillwater for a matchup with Oklahoma State over the weekend.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Freshman Robby Porco was stellar in just his second start of the season as he struck out 12 batters in 6.0 innings while allowing just two runs, only one of which was earned. The dozen strikeouts for Porco are the most for a Mountaineer pitcher this season.
“Porco’s performance came in the nick of the time of us,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “When we don’t do well on Friday and Saturday, somebody has to step up and salvage the series for us so that was a very encouraging performance for the rest of the season.”
At the plate, junior Landon Wallace hit two home runs and scored three runs while sophomore Grant Hussey added his seventh home run of the season. Sophomore JJ Wetherholt also added three hits to tick his average up to .448 on the season.
The day did not get off to a good start for the Mountaineers as three defensive misplays on the first three balls put in play allowed a run to come home for the Jayhawks. Porco showed great poise after that and got the next three guys out with a couple of strikeouts to limit the damage.
In the bottom of the first, WVU took advantage of wild pitching from the Jayhawks as the Mountaineers scored five runs on two hits, two walks and three hit-by-pitches. The only run-scoring hit in the inning came off the bat of Hussey as he had an RBI single.
Kansas got one run back in the third with a home run, but the Mountaineers answered with two in the fourth, getting a solo home run from Wallace and an RBI double from junior Braden Barry.
Wallace added his second home run of the game in the sixth, a near repeat of his shot earlier, going opposite field into the WVU bullpen.
In the seventh, Hussey muscled a home run to straightaway center field off the batter’s eye to extend the WVU lead to 9-2.
The Jayhawks got one run in the eighth, but West Virginia put the finishing touches on the game in the home half, scoring three runs. A run-scoring groundout from Wallace put the Mountaineers in double-digits before back-to-back doubles by redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely and Barry added two more runs.
Freshman Carson Estridge pitched the final three innings with a pair of strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.
The Mountaineers will hit the road this week for four games beginning with Penn State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before heading to Stillwater for a matchup with Oklahoma State over the weekend.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
