Mountaineers Rally to Defeat Coastal Carolina 5-4 in Game Two
Coastal Carolina's shortstop Eric Brown sent his first-inning two-run homer over the left field wall as the Chanticleers put up runs in the first three innings to jump out to a 4-0 lead.
West Virginia starting pitcher Jake Carr pitched 1.1 innings and allowed five hits and three runs but was able to strikeout three before being relieved by Daniel Ouderkirk. Ouderkirk couldn't manage to find a spark for the Mountaineers on the mound and ended his outing pretty quickly after walking three, allowing two hits and a run.
"We're working with Jake Carr. He's going to be an instrumental piece of this team = he's going to be real important," West Virginia assistant coach Steve Sabins said. "He's going to get it figured out, and we're going to get it figured out, but we haven't equipped him with anything to feel great on the mound.
"He's too good of a kid, and he's too competitive, and he's been too successful in the past for him not to be a big part of it."
It took a lot of maneuvering for West Virginia, but after the third inning came to an end, the Mountaineers found some life. After West Virginia fell in an early 4-0 pit, the Chanticleers were looking to run away with it, but the Mountaineer bullpen heated up.
The Chanticleers went from eight hits and four runs in three innings to watching the Mountaineers chip away at their lead.
By the fourth inning, Skyler Gonzalez was the fourth pitcher to take over for the Mountaineers and, after a bit of a rocky start, allowing a single and a hit batsman, got out of the inning, leaving the runners stranded.
In the bottom of the inning, Vince Ippoliti took the lead-off walk for West Virginia before advancing to third base after two ground-outs from McCormick and Kluska. Brandon Barry smacked a hard single that Chanticleers' Brown couldn't handle, and Ippoliti crossed the plate to kick off the Mountaineers' comeback.
It took Gonzalez six pitches for a three-up and three-down in the 5th inning to keep the clamps on the Chanticleers lineup while the Mountaineers tacked on another run. McGwuire Holbrook drilled his lead-off shot to third base to keep the Mountaineers rallying. Then Victor Scott popped another infield single to push Holbrook over to third.
Byorick grounded out to the shortstop, but it was good enough to light up another run on the scoreboard for West Virginia.
The Mountaineers showed resiliency and absolute will to keep digging at the Coastal Carolina lead, and the Chanticleers continued to strike away their chances.
Gonzalez gave way to Ben Abernathy after keeping Coastal Carolina off home plate for two innings. Abernathy kept the heat on the mound and handed the Chanticleers' lineup another seven-pitch three-up and three-down in the 6th inning.
After Abernathy faced only four batters and downed Coastal Carolina again to open the 7th, the Mountaineers used a lead-off single and two walks to load the bases. Byorick came through again for West Virginia by doing all that was necessary.
Byorick laid the bat into another pitch that looked like just another routine infield play for third base, but Cooper Weiss' throw to first was mishandled, and West Virginia landed two more runs to knot the game at 4-4.
West Virginia catcher Paul McIntosh continued to take advantage of the rally in the 7th as he caught a piece of the ball to send it into the infield. He was caught in a double-play but not before Victor Scott barreled his way down the third base line to score the fifth and final winning run for the Mountaineers.
Tim Wynia had a quick appearance at the mound, but an important one at that. Wynia threw three balls just good enough to result in a quick first out for Coastal Carolina, and Hampton came in to finish the job in the 8th.
West Virginia closer Madisen Jeffrey opened the final frame of play by collecting a quick ground out from Gattinelli. Jeffrey walked the next batter, who managed to steal second after a fly out from Weiss.
Jeffrey worked to a full count before darting a fastball straight by Chanticleers' Thomas and giving the Mountaineers their comeback win after losing their opening game on Friday.
"They're just extremely resilient. They've been resilient the entire season," Sabins said. "I think the last half of the game was a very different feeling, and that starts with on the mound."
West Virginia and Coastal Carolina will be back in action tomorrow, March 20th, to finish up their series.
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