West Virginia Drops Game 2 and the Series to Texas

Austin, TX - Texas starter Lebarron Johnson kept the West Virginia hitters in check, recording 11 strikeouts in 5.1 innings, while the Longhorns offense continued its offensive onslaught and hammered the Mountaineers Friday night 10-4.

Landon Wallace gave the Mountaineers their first lead of the series with a solo home run in the first but a rough start for West Virginia hurler Blaine Traxel the advantage was quickly erased, allowing seven runs in the first two innings.

The Longhorns put up four runs in the bottom of the first with Dylan Campbell tying the game with an RBI double, Garret Guillemette gave the Longhorns the lead with a sacrifice fly to centerfield and Eric Kennedy lifted a two-run home run for the 4-1 lead.

In the second, Jared Thomas smacked a two-run home run and Dylan collected his second RBI of the evening with a solo shot over left field for a 7-1 advantage.

The Mountaineers had an opportunity to get back into the game in the third, loading the bases with no outs, however, only could bring one runner across home plate on an infield single by Braden Barry.

Traxel stayed through five innings allowing his eighth run of the evening on an RBI single from Porter Brown.

Peyton Powell lifted a solo home run in the sixth and an RBI single from Jack O'Dowd added to the Longhorn advantage 10-2.

West Virginia added a pair of runs in the ninth after Grant Hussey delivered a leadoff single, Caleb McNeely followed with a double and Sam White cleared the bases with a pinch-hit single before the third Longhorn arm of the inning, David Shaw, closed the game with a strikeout as Texas takes the series 10-4.

Despite the loss, West Virginia claimed a share of the Big 12 title with Oklahoma's win over Oklahoma State and will look to take sole possession of the Big 12 Conference regular season championship in the series finale against Texas Saturday afternoon with the first pitch set for 3:30 p.m. EST.

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