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On Sunday, West Virginia completed a three-game sweep of the Baylor Bears, which was the first sweep against a Big 12 opponent since 2016.
At one point of the game, WVU was out-hitting Baylor 10-0, but the pitching from the Mountaineers struggled to throw strikes in the middle innings. WVU ended the game with 13 hits compared to Baylor’s three, but that didn’t stop the Bears from making it a tight game.
WVU starting pitcher Zach Bravo was perfect through the first three innings but lost his control in the fourth inning when he walked four men and hit a batter. Bravo finished with 3.2 innings pitched, no hits, four walks, and five earned runs.
WVU grabbed a first inning lead by getting six hits off Baylor starting pitcher Jake Jackson. Austin Davis started the frame with a single between third base and shortstop, and JJ Wetherholt followed with an infield single.
McGwire Holbrook broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single to make it 1-0.
On the next at-bat, Braden Barry doubled to score Wetherholt and extend the lead to 2-0. Dayne Leonard followed the double with a two-run single that scored Holbrook and Barry to make it 4-0 after one inning.
After retiring Baylor in order in the top of the second inning, WVU put another two runs across the board. Austin Davis got in scoring position by doubling down the left field line and was brought home on an RBI single by Victor Scott. After the double, McGwire Holbrook hit his second RBI single of the day, bringing Scott home from second base.
Baylor got on the board in the top of the fourth inning when WVU’s Zach Bravo walked four batters and hit one. Chase Wehsener reached on a fielder’s choice and brought in the first run for the Bears to cut the deficit to 6-1.
With the bases loaded, Harrison Caley got hit by a pitch and that brought home Baylor’s second run of the game. After the hit batter, WVU head coach Randy Mazey brought Noah Short out of the bullpen. Short hit Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo to force in a run and make it a 6-3 game.
After Cardoza-Oquendo was hit, Alex Gonzales got Baylor’s first hit of the game, and it was a big one. Gonzales singled up the middle to score two runners and make it a 6-5 ballgame.
Both teams had chances, but neither could bring home a run in the fifth inning.
To start the sixth inning, Austin Davis got ahold of a pitch and homered over the left-field wall to extend the WVU lead to 7-5. The Mountaineers had a chance to open the lead up with the bases loaded and only one out, but Dayne Leonard grounded into an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play.
In the seventh inning, the Mountaineers retired the Bears in order, and threatened to add to their lead in the bottom half of the inning.
With two runners on, Austin Davis grounded into a fielder’s choice and JJ Wetherholt flew out, so Baylor avoided more trouble.
Neither team put any runners on base in the eighth inning, so WVU took a 7-5 lead into the top of the ninth inning.
After a walk to start the ninth inning, Trey Braithwaite came in to relieve Chris Sleeper. Sleeper pitched four innings in relief for WVU and held Baylor scoreless during that time.
When Braithwaite came in, he got Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo to ground out into a double play. With two outs, Baylor’s Jack Pineda grounded out to Mikey Kluska at second base, and the Mountaineers won 7-5, completing the sweep over the Bears.
Austin Davis, who went 3-for-4 with a home run and three runs scored, spoke on the team’s confidence after getting a sweep in conference play.
“Oh, it’s very high,” Davis said. “We just came off a sweep, just came off a series win at No. 12 TCU back then, so we just got to keep that momentum going into our next midweek game coming up Tuesday.”
The 20-10 Mountaineers now look forward to a road game at Penn State on Tuesday before welcoming the No. 6 Oklahoma State Cowboys to Morgantown for a three-game weekend series.
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