No. 24 West Virginia Powers Past Cincinnati, Clinch Series

Morgantown, WV – The No. 24 West Virginia Mountaineers (33-4, 12-3) hit three home runs, while junior starting pitcher Gavin Van Kempen and senior reliever Reese Bassinger combined to throw eight innings and seven strikeouts and junior closer Carson Estridge shut the door to move past the Cincinnati Bearcats (21-17, 8-9) Friday night 6-4.

West Virginia captured an early lead in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs on the board, senior Kyle West hit a high chopper to second for a single and a pair of wild pitches moved him to third before senior Jace Rinehart hit a high fly ball to first, but senior Tommy O’Connor drifted into foul territory, misjudging the ball and it landed in play for an RBI single and a 1-0 lead.

Sophomore Jack Natili tied the game for the Bearcats in the fourth with a leadoff home run.

In the bottom of the frame, Rinehart and junior Sam White began the inning with consecutive singles. Sophomore Spencer Barnett advanced the Mountaineer runners with a bunt before redshirt Chase Swain hit a shallow fly ball to left field, and Rinehart raced home and knocked the ball out of the glove of Natili for a 2-1 lead.

Senior Logan Sauve extended the Mountaineer lead in the fifth, driving the 1-2 pitch well over the left-centerfield wall for a 3-1 advantage.

In the sixth, Rinehart lifted the first pitch of the inning for a leadoff home run. Then, after White reached down and singled through the right side, senior Grant Hussey blasted a two-out two run home run to extend the Mountaineer lead, 6-1.

Cincinnati cut the WVU lead to four in the seventh. Senior Lauden Brooks ripped a leadoff double to right-center, redshirt senior Kerrington Cross worked a walk, a grounder advanced the Bearcat runners before senior Donovan Ford hit the sacrifice fly to right field.

The Bearcats put a run on the board in the ninth after reliever Reese Bassinger beaned Brooks and Cross tripled to right-centerfield. WVU head coach Steve Sabins called in junior closer Carson Estridge to the mound.

Cincinnati added another run with a sacrifice ground ball, but Estridge collected his second save of the season after lining out Ford and striking out Natili for the 6-4 decision.

West Virginia will look for the series sweep Saturday afternoon. The first pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.

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