Wildcats Steal Game 1 from the Mountaineers

West Virginia comes up short in the series opener versus Kansas State

Kansas State junior Brendan Jones steals second base in the seventh inning while West Virginia shortstop JJ Wetherholt awaits the throw. | Christopher Hall

Granville, WV – The West Virginia Mountaineers (29-19, 15-10) dropped the series opener to Kansas State Friday night 4-3, ending a nine-game home winning streak at Kendrick Family Ballpark.

“We just made too many mistakes,” said West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey. “Those RBI singles, we put guys in scoring position that we shouldn’t have. Credit to them when they needed a hit, they got it, we didn’t.”

Kansas State jumped out on top when the Big 12 leader in stolen bases, junior Brendan Jones, placed a line drive into the gap in right centerfield and proceeded to capture stolen base of the season before redshirt sophomore Kyan Lodice placed a sacrifice bunt to advance Jones to third. Then, redshirt junior Brady Day delivered an RBI single to left field for a 1-0 Wildcats advantage.

West Virginia sophomore Skylar King hits an RBI single in the second inning. | Christopher Hall

West Virginia tied the game in the bottom of the second inning when junior Grant Hussey was hit by the first pitch, a pair of sacrifice ground balls moved Hussey to third before sophomore Skylar King slapped an RBI single through the left side to even the game at one.

The Wildcats reclaimed the lead in the third after Lodice hit a one-out double to left centerfield, then with two outs, junior Kaelen Culpepper went through the opposite side of the infield for an RBI single and a 2-1 lead.

Kansas State added a run in the sixth. Culpepper doubled down the right field line and freshman Nick English line a single to left field for a 3-1 Kansas State lead.

Senior Reed Chumley got the Mountaineers back within one in the bottom of the frame with a solo home run.

West Virginia senior starting pitcher Hayden Cooper went six innings, allowed three runs and recorded a season-high six strikeouts.

“He was just throwing more strikeouts than he normally does with a couple of different pitches.

Robby Porco took the mound in the seventh. The sophomore walked the leadoff hitter Brendan Jones, and he swiped his second bag of the night and his team-leading 33rd of the season before taking third on a passed ball. Then, Day dropped an RBI single in left field to extend the lead back to two, 4-2.

Kansas State redshirt junior Brady Day delivers an RBI single in the seventh inning. | Christopher Hall

The Mountaineers, again, responded in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore Benjamin Lumsden was beaned on the 1-0 pitch. Armani Guzman came into the game to pinch run for Lumsden. He moved to second on a ground ball to second from King and sophomore Logan Sauve laid down a bunt single to place runners at the corners before JJ Wetherholt hit a deep ground ball to second base for the RBI single to cut the deficit back to one, 4-3.

Kansas State starting pitcher Owen Boerema tossed seven innings and matched his second highest strikeout total of the season with eight. The senior held the Mountaineers to three runs on five hits after WVU hit six home runs in the dominant 18-7 win over Penn State Wednesday night.

“That was a product of the kid on the mound doing a really good job,” Mazey said. He was a good pitcher. We were out of rhythm because he made us get out of rhythm.”

Blake Dean took the mound in the eighth for the Wildcats and allowed a leadoff double to Chumley before registering a pair of strikeouts. Then, Tyson Neighbors recorded his seventh save of the season with a 1-2-3 inning to keep the Mountaineers off the board and take game one 4-3.

West Virginia will look to even the series in game two on Saturday. The first pitch is set for 3:05 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.