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Just as he had done all night, Justin Campbell let out an emphatic roar, pumping his right fist after he stranded two more West Virginia runners. In the much anticipated matchup between No. 24 West Virginia and No. 3 Oklahoma State, it was Campbell who had the last laugh in a pitcher’s duel on Friday night.
Through the first six innings, the Mountaineers had only one runner reach second base. Then in the seventh, the Mountaineer bats broke out, but along with Campbell’s (5-1) dominance, Oklahoma State’s (25-9, 8-2 Big 12) defense was able to hold the Mountaineers in check.
West Virginia (21-11, 5-2 Big 12) started the inning with McGwire Holbrook singling to left field. Braden Barry then hammered a ball down the left field line, but Holbrook was then thrown out trying to score, by about 15 feet. Nathan Blasick then walked, before Campbell buckled down, striking out Grant Hussey on three pitches, and then retiring Mikey Kluska in the same fashion, on a fastball up in the zone.
“We’re an aggressive team, we’re going to make outs on the bases,” West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey said of Holbrook. “That’s the type of offense we have. We’re going to force people to play defense against us. They made a great defensive play.
The 91 mph fastball Kluska swung through was Campbell’s final pitch of the night, where his Cowboy teammates did just enough to push them to a 2-1 victory.
Things started out on the right foot for the Mountaineers, with starter Jacob Watters cruising through the first two innings. Watters (2-2) struck out five of the first six batters, despite struggling to command all three of his pitches.
“He actually didn’t have control of his breaking ball like he normally has,” Mazey said of Watters. “He really couldn’t keep them off the fastball. I think every hit he gave up was off of fastballs and they were sitting on fastballs, but he pitched great.”
That command of a fastball hurt Watters to begin the third. Marcus Brown doubled to right field, but Watters was able to battle to get a strikeout and a groundout. Then, with two outs, Caeden Trinkle singled on a ground ball between Tevin Tucker at shortstop and JJ Wetherholt at third, to give the Cowboys an early 1-0 lead.
The Mountaineers would have a leadoff double of their own in the bottom of the inning, with Kluska doubling down the right field line. Tucker squared to bunt on every pitch of the ensuing at-bat, failing to get the bunt down in the process. Campbell then was able to get through the top two hitters in the West Virginia batting order, before he let out another one of his screams.
Campbell would finish his night, throwing 94 pitches, 62 for strikes, while allowing six hits in seven innings, while striking out eight Mountaineers.
“He just commanded all of his pitches and that’s all you got to do at this level. If he can command three, four pitches, you’re going to get outs, you’re going to get swings and misses,” Watters said of Campbell.
The Cowboys were able to give Campbell another insurance run in the seventh inning. Nolan McLean greeted Watters’ 109th pitch of the night with a towering home run to left-center field, putting Oklahoma State ahead 2-0, and ending Watters’ day.
Watters finished, having pitched 6.1 innings, giving up six hits, walking one, and tying a career-high in strikeouts with eight, while throwing a career-high in pitches.
“Really proud of what he did — [he] went over 100 pitches, gave us a chance to win as a starter. That’s what we needed,” Mazey said.
West Virginia did not go away quietly, getting the leadoff runner on in the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, Austin Davis singled, before he was caught stealing at second. Then in the seventh, it was Holbrook who singled, before getting thrown out at home.
“We had chances to move runners and didn’t do it. And you know, it’s kind of hard to go through a season without making those mistakes,” Mazey said.
In the eighth inning, Davis redeemed himself, hitting an infield single, before stealing second and third. Davis would then come home to score West Virginia’s only run of the night, on a Victor Scott sacrifice-fly.
In the ninth inning, the Mountaineers were able to get the tying run on first base, but that is all they could muster, with Oklahoma State slamming the door shut, striking out Holbrook to end the game.
“I just told those guys man, I hated to be a coach tonight. I wish I was a fan, because if you’re a fan of college baseball, you just got to see one of the best college baseball games you’ll ever see. That was well pitched, well defended, the offense did great to get the hits they got against the two pitchers they faced. Those are two of the best pitchers in all of college baseball, going head-to-head,” Mazey said.
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