West Virginia Suffers Stunning Midweek Home Loss to Penn State

The Mountaineers' early lead slipped away as the Nittany Lions continued to compile runs and pulled off the upset

The West Virginia Mountaineers' midweek home winning streak ended Wednesday night following a surprising 8-4 loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions (18-21), marking the first midweek home loss since Penn State knocked off the Mountaineers 6-5 on May 9, 2017. 

"We just didn’t play a good game," said West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey. "We get a three-run lead and don’t throw strikes. We swung at ball four I don’t know how many times to just strike out tonight. I think we just thought we were going to come out because we scored 15 runs on Sunday and just throw up 10 runs again, especially after you score three in the first two innings – thought it was going to be easy and anytime you think it’s going to be easy that’s exactly what happens to you."

West Virginia (24-15) grabbed the early advantage in the first when J.J. Wetherholt hit a sharp groundball over to second base Ben Kailher could not handle for an infield single before Victor Scott brought him home with a double down the right field line, and McGwire Holbrook singled into centerfield, plating Scott for the early 2-0 lead. 

Consecutive singles from Dayne Leonard and Mikey Kluska in the second put runners at the corners. Tevin Tucker hit into a double play but scored Leonard, extending the lead to 3-0. 

Penn State tied the game in the third when Cole Bartels reached on a base hit followed by Jay Harry working a walk, then Josh Spiegel smacked an RBI single. Johny Piacentino flared a doubled down the right field, scoring Harry and an errant pickoff attempt from Zach Ottinger at third allowed Harry to tie the game at three. 

The Nittany Lions added a run in the fourth, and in the fifth, Spiegel blasted a solo home run to begin the inning and Billy Gerlot tripled down the right field line, claiming a 6-3 lead. 

West Virginia cut into the deficit after Grant Hussey worked a one-out walk, Dayne Leonard singled into centerfield, and Mikey Kluska dropped a single over first base to load the bases before Tevin Tucker hit a groundball back to the pitcher and he looked to turn two, but Tucker beat the throw as Leonard crossed home plate. The Mountaineers, again, loaded the bases but could not put another run on the board. 

Penn State added two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth as the Nittany Lions stun the Mountaineers 8-4. 

"You got to show up every time you play. It doesn’t matter who the best team is it matters who plays the best and they smashed the ball tonight. They hit a lot of extra base hits, got on base and we didn’t." Mazey said.

 The Mountaineers are back in action this weekend as they get back out on the road and head to Lawrence, KS to take on the Kansas Jayhawks (17-24, 2-10) in a three-game series beginning Friday with the first pitch set for 7:00 pm EST. Game two is scheduled for Saturday at 3:00 pm and the series finale is Sunday at 1:00 pm. 

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

Facebook - @WVUonSI

Twitter - @SI_WVU and Christopher Hall @WVHallBilly