Chansen Cole Pitches Gem as No. 17 WVU Rolls Past Texas Tech in Series Finale

The No. 17 West Virginia Mountaineers (24-8, 10-5) dispatched the Texas Tech Red Raiders (20-15, 6-9) Sunday afternoon in a series deciding game three 10-1. West Virginia sophomore Chansen Cole threw a career-high eight innings and recorded four strikeouts to limit the Tech offense, while senior Brock Wills registered three RBI and senior Sean Smith produced a pair of RBI on four hits.

West Virginia sophomore Matt Ineich led the game off with a double off the wall in left centerfield and advanced to third on a deep fly ball to right field from sophomore Gavin Kelly before senior Paul Schoenfeld hit the top of the right field wall for an RBI triple, his fourth triple of the season. Senior Sean Smith rolled a ground ball to short, under the glove of sophomore Coleman Ryan and into left field for an RBI single and a 2-0 WVU lead.

The Mountaineers added a run in the second. Armani Guzman ripped a leadoff double down the right field line. Senior Matthew Graveline moved the junior to third on a fly centerfield and senior Brock Wills put the ball in play with a grounder to short for the RBI and a 3-0 advantage.

Cole tossed five scoreless innings before the Red Raiders put a run on the board in the sixth. Freshman Linkin Garcia worked a one-out walk, junior Matt Quintanar smacked a double down the left field line, and senior Tracer Lopez popped up to centerfield for the RBI.

West Virginia provided insurance runs in the eighth. Smith lined a leadoff single up the middle and junior Tyrus Hall lined a double into left field, setting up freshman Zahir Barjam for a pinch-hit, sacrifice fly RBI. Then, Guzman worked the count for a walk, stole second, before senior Brock Wills grounded through the left side for a two-RBI single as the Mountaineers climbed to a 6-1 advantage.

The Mountaineers added to their coverage in the ninth after Kelly flared a leadoff double to right centerfield, he moved to third on a groundball from Schoenfeld before Smith lined and RBI single off the arm off of sophomore reliever Bryce Suiter.

After walking Hall in five pitches, Suiter left the game and senior reliever Jacob Rogers. Freshman Max Molessa hit the 0-1 pitch back up the middle and off the heel of Rogers for a pinch-hit, RBI single. Graveline continued the inning with a two-RBI single as the Mountaineers took a commanding 10-1 lead.

Cole took the mound in the ninth, but after giving up a single and beaning Lopez, WVU head coach Steve Sabins called in Ben McDougal. The senior registered the first out with a pop fly in foul territory before hitting freshman Jesse Rusinek to load the bases, then walked Ferraro to bring in a run.

Sabins turned to Ian Korn and the senior recorded the final two outs as the Mountaineers rolled to a 10-2 decision.

The Mountaineers are back in action Wednesday night in Hagerstown, Maryland, at Meritus Park to take on Penn State. The first pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. EST and the actin will stream on ESPN+.