Skip to main content

West Virginia Pounds No. 16 Pitt

West Virginia dominates Backyard Brawl 8-2

Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers even the season series against the No. 16 Pitt Panthers 8-2 Wednesday night.

West Virginia grabbed the early advantage after Matt McCormick worked a one-out walk before Hudson Byorick delivered the inside pitch deep into right-centerfield for a two-out RBI triple.

The Mountaineers tacked another run in the second when Alec Burn hit a leadoff double into right-center. Victor Scott moved Burns to third on a sacrifice bunt, and Mikey Kluska brought him home on a groundball over to second base, taking a 2-0 lead.

The Mountaineers did their damage again with two outs in the bottom of the fourth when Alec Burns and Victor Scott laced singles into right field, Mikey Kluska drew a walk to load the bases before Tyler Doanes beat out a high groundball to back to the pitcher for an RBI single and Austin Davis worked an RBI walk, putting West Virginia up 4-0.

West Virginia added some cushion in the fifth after one-out singles from Hudson Byorick and Nathan Blasick before Victor Scott ricocheted a ground ball off reliever Corey Sawyer’s foot for an RBI single.

Pitt cut into the lead in the sixth after David Yanni hit a two-out RBI double for the Panthers first run of the game. However, in the bottom of the inning, with one out and two on, Paul McIntosh broke the game open with a deep blast off the scoreboard for a three-run home run for the 8-1 advantage.

West Virginia starting freshman pitcher Carlson Reed went five and two thirds, only allowing the one run before Skylar Gonzalez took over in the sixth and got out of the inning, retiring the side. Gonzalez struggled to get out of the eighth, and head coach Randy Mazey called on Madison Jefferey, who hit the first batter he faced before striking out Ramon Padilla.

Jeffrey took the mound in the ninth, allowed two base runners but struck out three, keeping the Panthers off the board as the Mountaineers pulled off the upset 8-2.  

West Virginia will be back in action Friday to host the Oklahoma Sooners for the final Big 12 Conference homestand of the season with the first pitch set for game one at 6:30 pm EST. 

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the page's top righthand corner.

Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook - @WVUonSI

Twitter - @SI_WVU and Christopher Hall @WVHallBilly