Baseball Picks Up Series-Opening Victory
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (May 14, 2015) – The West Virginia University baseball team scored six runs in the first three innings en route to a 6-4 victory over Texas Tech in Thursday’s series opener at Monongalia County Ballpark.
“I talked to the team at practice yesterday and said, ‘Let’s do what Coach (Bob) Huggins does, change your entire approach.’ He did it for the whole season with his up-tempo in your face pressure defense and stuck with it,” coach Randy Mazey said. “I didn’t tell them that’s what we were going to do, I asked them if they wanted to play that way this weekend and the seniors said, ‘Heck yeah, let’s do it.’ It’s a lot of fun to play that way and we haven’t been standing there outslugging people the last 10 games, so we figured lets do that and change the way this guy pitches.”
With the win, West Virginia improves to 26-24 overall and 8-12 in Big 12 play, needing just one win to clinch a spot in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship next week. Texas Tech dropped to 29-21 overall and 12-10 in the Big 12.
In his first career game at the leadoff spot, freshman designated hitter Kyle Davis had three hits and two RBIs while senior third baseman Justin Fox had two hits and sophomore catcher Ray Guerrini scored two runs.
Sophomore right-hander Chad Donato (7-5) went seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. Freshman right-hander Conner Dotson earned his first save in two innings of one-hit shutout relief.
“When he (Chad) gets to 100 pitches, he’s as good as he is when he starts the game,” Mazey said. “They weren’t scoring on him because he wasn’t doing well, they were scoring on him because they can really hit.”
West Virginia jumped out to an early lead with Davis reaching on a single to left center field to lead off the bottom of the first. After stealing second and advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt, Davis made it 1-0 as he scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by sophomore first baseman Jackson Cramer.
Texas Tech did not waste any time tying the game in the top of the second with an Eric Gutierrez home run over the left field fence, his third of the season.
The Mountaineers retook the lead at 3-1 in the bottom of the second with a pair of two-out singles by Davis and senior third baseman Justin Fox, scoring sophomore catcher Ray Guerrini and junior center fielder KC Huth, respectively.
West Virginia used more two-out magic in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 6-1. With runners on second and third, Guerrini reached on a fielding error by the third baseman to score senior shortstop Taylor Munden, Huth hit an infield single down the third base line to plate freshman second baseman Shaun Corso and Davis’ third hit of the game scored Guerrini.
Texas Tech’s Stephen Smith made it 6-2 in the top of the fourth, scoring on a wild pitch after a leadoff triple to right field.
Smith led off the sixth inning with his 10th home run of the season over the left field fence. Tyler Neslony tripled off the left center field wall in the next at bat and scored on Gutierrez’s RBI ground out to second base, cutting the deficit to 6-4.
The loss was issued to Texas Tech starter Ryan Moseley (4-6), who gave up six runs, three earned, on six hits with one strikeout and three walks in 2.2 innings. Smith, Neslony and Cory Raley had two hits apiece for the Red Raiders.
West Virginia and Texas Tech return to action on Friday at 6 p.m. There will be a postgame fireworks show courtesy of Coca-Cola.
The game will feature a free video stream, courtesy of Coca-Cola, and can be heard on the affiliates of the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG with Jeff Culhane and Ernie Galusky on the call.
Additionally, fans can listen to the broadcast via the WVU Gameday App on their mobile device, as well as the TuneIn Radio App. WVUsports.com also will carry free live audio via the LeanStream Player at WVUsports.com/audio.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (May 14, 2015) – The West Virginia University baseball team scored six runs in the first three innings en route to a 6-4 victory over Texas Tech in Thursday’s series opener at Monongalia County Ballpark.
“I talked to the team at practice yesterday and said, ‘Let’s do what Coach (Bob) Huggins does, change your entire approach.’ He did it for the whole season with his up-tempo in your face pressure defense and stuck with it,” coach Randy Mazey said. “I didn’t tell them that’s what we were going to do, I asked them if they wanted to play that way this weekend and the seniors said, ‘Heck yeah, let’s do it.’ It’s a lot of fun to play that way and we haven’t been standing there outslugging people the last 10 games, so we figured lets do that and change the way this guy pitches.”
With the win, West Virginia improves to 26-24 overall and 8-12 in Big 12 play, needing just one win to clinch a spot in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship next week. Texas Tech dropped to 29-21 overall and 12-10 in the Big 12.
In his first career game at the leadoff spot, freshman designated hitter Kyle Davis had three hits and two RBIs while senior third baseman Justin Fox had two hits and sophomore catcher Ray Guerrini scored two runs.
Sophomore right-hander Chad Donato (7-5) went seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. Freshman right-hander Conner Dotson earned his first save in two innings of one-hit shutout relief.
“When he (Chad) gets to 100 pitches, he’s as good as he is when he starts the game,” Mazey said. “They weren’t scoring on him because he wasn’t doing well, they were scoring on him because they can really hit.”
West Virginia jumped out to an early lead with Davis reaching on a single to left center field to lead off the bottom of the first. After stealing second and advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt, Davis made it 1-0 as he scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by sophomore first baseman Jackson Cramer.
Texas Tech did not waste any time tying the game in the top of the second with an Eric Gutierrez home run over the left field fence, his third of the season.
The Mountaineers retook the lead at 3-1 in the bottom of the second with a pair of two-out singles by Davis and senior third baseman Justin Fox, scoring sophomore catcher Ray Guerrini and junior center fielder KC Huth, respectively.
West Virginia used more two-out magic in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 6-1. With runners on second and third, Guerrini reached on a fielding error by the third baseman to score senior shortstop Taylor Munden, Huth hit an infield single down the third base line to plate freshman second baseman Shaun Corso and Davis’ third hit of the game scored Guerrini.
Texas Tech’s Stephen Smith made it 6-2 in the top of the fourth, scoring on a wild pitch after a leadoff triple to right field.
Smith led off the sixth inning with his 10th home run of the season over the left field fence. Tyler Neslony tripled off the left center field wall in the next at bat and scored on Gutierrez’s RBI ground out to second base, cutting the deficit to 6-4.
The loss was issued to Texas Tech starter Ryan Moseley (4-6), who gave up six runs, three earned, on six hits with one strikeout and three walks in 2.2 innings. Smith, Neslony and Cory Raley had two hits apiece for the Red Raiders.
West Virginia and Texas Tech return to action on Friday at 6 p.m. There will be a postgame fireworks show courtesy of Coca-Cola.
The game will feature a free video stream, courtesy of Coca-Cola, and can be heard on the affiliates of the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG with Jeff Culhane and Ernie Galusky on the call.
Additionally, fans can listen to the broadcast via the WVU Gameday App on their mobile device, as well as the TuneIn Radio App. WVUsports.com also will carry free live audio via the LeanStream Player at WVUsports.com/audio.