West Virginia Hammered by Oklahoma, Dropping Series
The West Virginia Mountaineers dropped the second game of the doubleheader versus the Oklahoma Sooners 9-1 Sunday night. The Sooners held the Mountaineers hitless until the ninth, when Dominic Ragazzo hit a leadoff triple to break up the no-hitter.
Conor McKenna led off the second inning with a home run to give the Sooners the early advantage. Oklahoma tacked on two more runs when Justin Mitchell drew a one-out walk. Brandon Zaragoza ripped a single into right field before Breydon Daniel drove an RBI double into the gap in left-centerfield. Kendall Pettis hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Zaragoza and giving the Sooners a 3-0 lead.
In the fifth, Peyton Graham drove a deep ball off the centerfield wall for an inside-the-park home run, providing a little more cushion and extending the lead for the Sooners, 4-0. Then, mistakes started to mount as second baseman Ben Abernathy could not come up with a routine ground ball, giving Jimmy Crooks first.
Head coach Randy Mazey called out to his bullpen for Zach Ottinger, who snagged Tyler Hardman’s ground ball back up the middle, but the throw to second was off target, putting runners at first and third. Hardman proceeded to steal second, and an errant throw went into a sliding Hardman as the ball was kicked into left field, and Crooks was able to cross home. Next, Ottinger walked Jace Bohrogen and, after a wild pitch, advanced the runners to second and third, prompting Mazey to go back to his bullpen for Jacob Watters. After walking Mitchell, Zaragoza hit into what appeared to be a routine double play, but he was able to beat the throw to first, scoring Hardman and capping off a three-run fifth inning, putting the Sooners up 6-0.
Oklahoma starting pitcher Braden Carmichael threw 124 total pitches and seven hitless innings with 10 strikeouts on the night. Carson Carter carried the no-hitter into the ninth inning until Dominic Ragazzo hit a deep drive into centerfield for a triple, and Victor Scott brought him home on a sacrifice fly to left field.
The Sooners added two more runs in the sixth and another in the eighth for a decisive 9-1 series-clinching win.
West Virginia is back in action Tuesday night as they the Marshall Thundering Herd at 6:30 pm EST.
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