No. 9 West Virginia Battles Past No. 21 Arizona State, Punches Ticket to Big 12 Final

The No. 9 West Virginia Mountaineers (39-13) knocked off the No. 21 Arizona State Sun Devils (37-19) Friday night 7-3 to advance to the Big 12 baseball championship.

West Virginia grabbed the early advantage in the bottom of the second inning after senior Sean Smith hustled for a leadoff double before senior Brodie Kresser lined a two-out RBI double for a 1-0 lead.

West Virginia sophomore starting pitcher Chansen Cole threw three hitless innings, but in the fourth, redshirt junior Contrades drove a triple past a diving WVU senior centerfielder Paul Schoenfeld, and fifth year senior Dean Toigo reached out and lifted the 1-1 pitch over the left centerfield wall for a 2-1 Arizona State lead.

Cole left the game after five innings. He struck out six and allowed the two runs on the two hits as Joshua Surigao took the mound in the sixth. The sophomore registered two outs, including a strikeout, and issued a walk to Contrades in-between, but Sabins opted to bring in right hander Carson Estridge. The senior struggled to find the strike zone as Contrades swiped second and scored on a wild pitch before senior Reese Bassinger took the mound to record the final out of the inning.

Arizona State starting pitcher Cole Carlon entered the sixth inning and after registering the first out with a pop fly, Sun Devils head coach Willie Bloomquist called sophomore Finn Edwards in from the bullpen. Carlon finished the night with six strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.

West Virginia seized the momentum with one out singles from Smith and senior Mathew Graveline. Next, Junior Armani Guzman went opposite field with a deep RBI single to left field. Then, Kresser drove the ball in the dirt with a slow chopper to short, but a low throw hit off the chest junior first baseman Dominic Smaldino, scoring a pair of runs to cap a three run sixth inning and reclaiming the lead 4-3.

Bassinger took the mound in the eight and after walking Big 12 Player of the Year Landon Hairston and a fielder's choice from Contrades, Sabins tabbed senior left hander Ben McDougal. Toigo slapped a high fly ball to centerfield, but Schoenfeld dropped the ball, putting two aboard.

Dawson Montesa entered the game and the junior right-hander shut down the Sun Devils momentum to hold the 4-3 edge.

West Virginia added insurance runs in the bottom of the frame, starting with the hustle from Guzman. He received a one-out walk before Kresser placed a single to centerfield and as Guzman raced for third, the throw skipped past redshirt sophomore Austen Roellig and dashed home, beating the throw and sliding in safely. Then, Tyrus Hall hit a two-out RBI single to left field, and proceeded to steal second and another errant throw rolled to right field and with no hesitation the junior sped all the way home to cap a three-run eight.

The West Virginia bullpen combined for three hitless innings. Montesa gave up a hit and a walk in he ninth, but he registered three consecutive outs as the Mountaineers advanced to the Big 12 Baseball Championship with a 7-3 decision.

West Virginia will meet Kansas in the finals Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. EST and the action will be televised on ESPN2.

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