West Virginia Delivers Payback, Evens Series with BYU

Provo, UT – Following a 14-5 loss in the series opener Thursday night, West Virginia bounced back as 11 Mountaineers (21-3, 3-3) recorded RBIs with sophomore Spencer Barnett leading the way with four and freshman Gavin Kelley tallied three, taking down BYU Cougars (14-10, 4-4) Friday night with an emphatic 20-6 win to even the series.

West Virginia grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when senior Grant Hussey hit a leadoff single to right field, redshirt junior Chase Swain hit a single back up the middle, then sophomore Armani Guzman slapped a line drive RBI single to left field.

BYU tied the game in the bottom of the frame after junior Bryker Hurdsman hustled for a leadoff double that was line to centerfield before redshirt sophomore Keoni Painer beat the shift with a ground ball through the left side for the RBI sing.

West Virginia junior Skylar King reclaimed the Mountaineer lead with a leadoff home run off the scoreboard in right field. Next, senior Kyle West worked a walk and Hussey slapped a single to left field and Gavin Kelley line an RBI single to left field for the 3-1 lead.

The Cougars cut the Mountaineers’ lead to one after Hurdsman ripped his second double of the evening and proceeded to steal third before senior Brock Watkins hit a slow roller to third for an infield RBI single.

In the fifth, Hussey was beaned on the 2-2 pitch to lead off the inning, Swain singled to left field, then Spencer Barnett hit a hard ground ball that grazed off the glove of Watkins and trickled to right field, scoring Hussey and Swain for a two-RBI single and the 5-2 advantage.

West Virginia junior starting pitcher exited the game in the fifth, finishing with four strikeouts. Head coach Steve Sabins called in Chase Myer from the bullpen with a runner on third and two outs on the board. The sophomore got out of the inning unscathed and tossed 2.1 innings with four strikeouts.

With two on and two outs in the seventh, Barnett crushed a two-RBI triple off the centerfield wall and senior Brodie Kresser brought home with a single up the middle. After a pair of walks loaded the bases, Jace Rinehart line a two-RBI single, and after Hussey was hit by the pitch to load the bases, Gavin Kelley sliced a line drive two-RBI single to right field, capping a seven-run seventh inning for the 12-2 lead.

West Virginia added eight runs in the eighth inning with seven Mountaineers collecting RBIs, with junior Ellis Garcia registering his second RBI of the season on a single, and redshirt freshman Alex Marot hit a two-RBI double off the top of the wall in centerfield to highlight the six-hit parade as WVU stretched its lead to 18 runs, 20-2.

Junior lefty reliever Ben McDougal entered the game in the eighth and kept the Cougars off the board.

Luke Lyman was handed the ball in the ninth. The junior struggled in his ninth appearance this season. He walked two and gave up a pair of doubles for two Cougars runs before settling in a recording a strikeout and a ground out to third.

Steve Sabins called in redshirt freshman right-hander JJ Glasscock to record the final out of the game but gave up a two-RBI single before the Mountaineers took the 20-6 decision.

West Virginia and BYU will meet for a series deciding game three on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. EST with the action streaming on ESPN+.

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