WVU falls to Kansas 9-0 in Big 12 Championship
No. 9 West Virginia was defeated 9-0 by No. 13 Kansas for the Big 12 Tournament Championship inside Surprise Stadium in Arizona Saturday.
WVU now reaches 30 years without a conference tournament championship, with the last one coming in 1996 in the Big East. Its overall season record is now 39-14.
The Mountaineers failed to capitalize on many scoring opportunities throughout the game. They saw only three innings without a runner, loading the bases twice and putting a runner on second base three times. In total, WVU left 10 runners on base.
Interestingly enough, WVU hit decently well with runners on base. In 14 opportunities, it saw four hits for a .286 average. Four of these runners came from walks, along with six hits.
After 2.2 innings of work in the quarterfinal win on Thursday, right-hander Ian Korn started for WVU. He fired 5.2 strong frames, letting up two earned runs. He struck out and walked two batters, while allowing five hits. He stayed in the zone, throwing 52 strikes on 78 offerings (67%), earning his first loss of the season, now at 5-1.
To begin the game, the Mountaineers knocked on the door to score, but couldn’t. After an out, catcher Gavin Kelly was hit by a pitch, and center fielder Paul Schoenfeld moved him to third with a single. Designated hitter Sean Smith then grounded into a tailor-made six-four-three inning-ending double play. Kansas came up and got on the board first. After an out, Tyson Owens turned on a hanging breaking ball for a home run over the right field wall. Korn came back with two consecutive groundouts.
In the second inning, WVU put runners on the corners again and did not cash in. First baseman Armani reached on a dropped third strike, later advancing to third after a steal and a fielder’s choice, while right fielder Brock Wills walked with an out mixed in. Third baseman Tyrus Hall ended the inning on an uncompetitive strikeout on three pitches. In Kansas’s turn, left fielder Matthew Graveline had a busy frame. After a single, he caught a flyout, then the next batter he made a diving play down the line, firing to first to double up the runners.
The third inning ended with a double play in WVU’s turn after Kelly walked. Korn allowed on a single in his frame, but nothing more.
After three innings, WVU led 1-0.
A quiet fourth inning led to an almost loud fifth inning. To begin the frame, second baseman Brodie Kresser and right fielder Brock Wills single. Third baseman Tyrus Hall moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt. Shortstop Matt Ineich dribbled a ball in front of the pitcher, beating the throw to load the bases. Kelly then flew out to shallow right field, and Kresser tried to advance, getting thrown out at the plate with plenty of time to spare for Kansas’s catcher. Korn worked another scoreless inning after allowing a two-out walk.
A wild sixth inning on the bases saw the Mountaineers waste another scoring chance. After an out, Smith was hit with a pitch, Graveline singled and Guzman walked, loading the bases. Kresser popped a shallow pop-fly over first baseman Josh Dykhoff’s head, who made a basket catch running into right field. He turned and fired home and caught Smith in the middle of the base path, who returned to third. Graveline, who was tagged, was already there, causing multiple throws to get both Smith and him, ultimately leading to all runners being safe. Wills then grounded out to short, ending the frame.
In the bottom half, Kansas added to its lead. Korn saw two outs to begin the frame, then surrendered a walk and hit a batter. Jordan Bach capitalized on the opportunity with an RBI single to right field. This took Korn out, bringing in right-hander Reese Bassinger, who induced a groundout in his first at-bat.
Through six innings, WVU trailed 2-0.
A quiet top half of the seventh led to Kansas opening up the game. Bassinger returned to the mound and walked the first batter he saw. An error from Guzman on a tough one-hopper led to an RBI single by Tyson LeBlanc. Two outs followed before Dykhoff teed off for a 449-foot home run. Right-hander Dawson Montesa entered the game and allowed back-to-back homers from Augusto Mungarrieta and Bach.
Going into the eighth inning, Kansas led 8-0.
WVU could not respond, going three-up, three-down with two strikeouts. Right-hander Carson Estridge started the bottom half and saw two outs, while allowing a walk. Right-hander JT Huether then entered the game. He walked the first batter he faced, then allowed a run to score on an error from Guzman on the flip to him at first, which probably should have been corralled. He struck out the next batter, sending the game to the ninth.
Down by nine runs, WVU needed a lot of ground to make up. Despite a single from Wills, the game ended with three more outs.
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