No. 15 West Virginia’s Rally Falls Short in 10-7 Loss to Houston

The No. 15 West Virginia Mountaineers (25-9, 10-6) dropped the series opener to the last place Houston Cougars (17-19, 4-12) Friday night 10-7.

Houston jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Tyler Cox smacked a leadoff double to right centerfield. The senior advanced to third on a groundball from junior Tre Broussard before redshirt sophomore Xavier Perez dugout the 0-2 pitch for an RBI single to left field. Then, junior Riley Jackson doubled down the left field line, scoring Perez, and senior Cade Climie followed with a 422-fot two-run for a 4-0 Cougar lead.

West Virginia put a run on the board in the bottom of the frame when freshman Zahir Barjam doubled down the left field line and sophomore Matt Ineich singled to left center for his 29th RBI of the season.

The Cougars reclaimed the four-run advantage in the fifth. Broussard was issued a walk and advanced to third after a wild pitch and a failed pickoff attempt at second before Jackson hit a hard ground ball that bounced off junior third baseman Tyler Hall for the RBI. WVU head coach Steve Sabins turned to senior reliever Carson Estridge to register the final two outs of the inning.

In the seventh, Broussard hit a one-out double, and an errant throw from Ineich and placed runners at the corners. Then, Jackson placed a bunt down toward first base and junior Armani Guzman lost the handle of the ball on the throw to home, plating a Cougar run. Freshman Blake Fields drove a two-RBI double to cap the inning and give the Cougars an 8-1 lead.

The Mountaineers pulled within striking distance in the bottom of the inning. Hall hit a leadoff home run, then senior Matthew Graveline and Guzman followed with consecutive singles. Then with two outs, Ineich lined an RBI single, prompting Houston head coach Todd Whitting to call right-hander Richie Roman from the bullpen. The junior issued back-to-back walks for a Mountaineer run and catcher interference finished a four-run seventh inning, cutting the deficit to three, 8-5.

Fields hit a two run home run in the top of the ninth, slowing the Mountaineers momentum. West Virginia matched the run total after Ineich singled and senior Paul Schoenfeld doubled before senior Sean Smith singled to right field, but that's all the Mountaineers could muster and fall 10-7.

West Virginia looks to even the series in game two on Saturday. The first pitch is set for 11:00 a.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.

Add us as a preferred source on Google