West Virginia Swept in Texas

Austin, TX - The West Virginia Mountaineers (39-16, 15-9) dropped the third consecutive game against the Texas Longhorns (38-18, 15-9) Saturday evening 7-3.

West Virginia junior Ben Hampton has been at the top of the rotation all season, but head coach Randy Mazey held the Mountaineer hurler for the final game of the series, and it became his shortest appearance of the season.

Hampton lasted a third of an inning after giving up two runs before sophomore Aidan Major was called to take the mound with one out and the bases loaded. Major got ahead of the count, but Jalin Flores drove the 1-2 pitch to the gap of left-centerfield to cap off a four-run first inning.

The Longhorns added a run in the second when Jared Thomas collected his second hit in as many at bats with a double to right field then Peyton Powell delivered an RBI single.

Jalin Flores smacked a solo home run in the third to give the Longhorns a 6-0 lead.

West Virginia junior Braden Barry hit a leadoff home run in the fourth to put the Mountaineers on the board.

Caleb McNeely reached on a leadoff infield single to begin the seventh then freshman Sam White lifted a two-home run to get the Mountaineers back within three, 6-3.

The Longhorns added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth after loading the bases on reliable reliever Carlson Reed and Garret Guillemette slipped a single through the left side for an RBI and extending the Longhorn, 7-3.

West Virginia put two aboard in the bottom of the ninth but a 5-4-3 ended the ball game as Texas completes the sweep with a 7-3 decision and claim a share of the Big 12 Conference regular season championship.

The Mountaineers grabbed a share of the Big 12 championship Friday night following Oklahoma's win over Oklahoma State.

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