West Virginia Showcases Bullpen and Power in the Series Win Over Texas Tech

Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia bullpen held one of the best offenses in the country to just one run after the Red Raiders grabbed a 2-0 lead through the first two innings while sophomore J.J. Wetherholt tied the game with a solo home run in the third and a two-run home run in the sixth from Caleb McNeely gave the Mountaineers (39-13, 15-6) the 5-3 advantage and the win to claim the series over Texas Tech (35-18, 10-11).

"There’s nothing they haven’t done yet," said West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey. "It's so impressive the way they bounce back from stuff and the way we pitch, the way we hit, the way we run the bases, play defense - we’re checking just about every box to be a great team right now."

West Virginia freshman Robby Porco got himself in a jam from the start giving up a walk and a double. Head coach Randy Mazey wasted no time with runners at second and third with no outs calling his veteran Noah Short from the bullpen,

"It’s the first time I've ever change pitchers for the third batter in the first inning, but we just had to do it. I didn’t like the way the momentum was going," said Mazey.

Short delivered, limiting the damage to just a run on a sacrifice ground ball from Kevin Bazzell and got out of the inning on a 6-4-3 double play.

"Noah did an unbelievable job getting out of the first inning," said Mazey. Noah’s outings last normally about five to 10 pitches and that's what it was today, and it was a huge double play when we needed it."

Texas Tech went up two in the second after a fielder's choice after Max Yehl took over on the mound allowed two runners aboard but fought out of the of the situation, while a run scored on attempted double play from first base.

West Virginia put its first run on the board in the bottom of the second when Dayne Leonard ripped a leadoff single and Grant Hussey followed with an opposite field RBI double.

The Mountaineers tied the game in the third after Tevin Tucker worked a leadoff walk and Landon Wallace singled through the right side to place runners at the corners and an attempted steal at second allowed enough time for Tucker to score from third.

West Virginia freshman Dave Hagaman took the ball in the fourth from Yehl with runners at second and third with one out before Tracer Lopez lifted a sacrifice fly to reclaim the Texas Tech lead 3-2.

Big 12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year frontrunner J.J. Wetherholt knotted the game at three in the bottom of the fifth inning with an opposite field solo home run.

In the sixth, Hussey lined a single into shallow right field, and on the next pitch, Caleb McNeeley blasted a two-run home run to put the Mountaineers up two, 5-3.

Hagaman held the Red Raiders hitless through seven, ending his afternoon with three strikeouts.

We knew we had a fresh bullpen going into today so obviously we weren’t afraid to use them," said Mazey.

West Virginia closer Carlson Reed took the mound in the eighth. The junior continued to hold Texas Tech hitless, striking out four as the Mountaineers held on for the 5-3 decision.

"Max did a really good job of getting out of trouble when he got in trouble. Hagaman and Reed, that’s what they’ve been doing all season," said Mazey.

West Virginia is one win from claiming the program's first Big 12 Conference title, and the first regular season conference championship since 1996. The Mountaineers head to Austin (TX) for a three-game series with game one set for Thursday 7:30 p.m. EST. All the action will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network.

You can follow us for future coverage by following us on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook - @WVUonSI

Twitter - @SI_WVU and Christopher Hall @WVHallBilly