No. 9 West Virginia Storms Back Late to Take Series Over TCU

The N. 9 West Virginia Mountaineers (37, 13, 21-8) rallied to take game three and the series over the TCU Horned Frogs (33-20, 17-13) Saturday afternoon 6-4. West Virginia's 21 Big 12 Coference wins on the season sets a new program record and finished second in the final league standings.

TCU jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first when junior Colton Griffin rolled a leadoff single up the middle before sophomore Nolan Traeger flared an RBI double to left centerfield for the 1-0 advantage.

In the third, the Horned Frogs stretched their lead to three after senior Cole Cramer worked a one-out walk, and with two outs, junior Kyuss Gargett lifted the 0-1 pitch 344 feet for a two-run home run.

West Virginia sophomore Matt Ineich started the bottom of the frame, pulling a leadoff double down the right field line and sophomore Gavin Kelly followed with an RBI triple off the centerfield wall. Then, senior Paul Schoenfeld poked an RBI single to centerfield to pull he Mountaineers within a run 3-2.

West Virginia junior Tyrus Hall led the fourth inning off with a home run to tie the game at three.

TCU reclaimed the lead in the sixth. Junior Jack Bell began the inning with a single back up the middle, and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from senior Preston Gamster before freshman Lucas Franco dropped an RBI single to centerfield for a 4-3 advantage, and WVU head coach Steve Sabins turned to his bullpen to senior Reese Bassinger.

West Virginia starting pitcher Chansen Cole tossed 5.1 innings and registered eight strikeouts on the afternoon.

West Virginia captured its first lead in the eighth as the weather shifted as rain continued to fall at Kendrick Family Ballpark. Senior Brodie Kresser received a leadoff walk and senior Brock Wills followed with a hit back up the middle off the glove of senior reliever Tanner Sagouspe then spun out of the grasp of second second baseman Kyuss Gargett for a single. Next, Hall placed a sacrifice bunt to move the runners, before a wild pitch scored Kresser to tie game.

Then, another wild pitch put the go-ahead run on the board before senior Sean Smith capped a three-run eighth inning with an RBI single to right field for a 6-4 advantage.

Bassinger faced he minimum in the ninth to finish his day with 3.2 scoreless inning, recording a strikeout, as the Mountaineers take game three with the 6-4 decision.

West Virginia earned a double bye in the Big 12 Baseball tournament and will be back in action Thursday evening in the quarterfinals. The first pitch is set for approximately 4:30 p.m. EST and the action will be televised on ESPNU.

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