Tensions were a tad high for a 3 o’clock mid-week game between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Hofstra Pride, as eight Mountaineer hitters would be hit by Hofstra pitches.
“If you know anything about baseball, you know they (Hofstra) didn’t do it on purpose,” head coach Randy Mazey said after the win. “If our guys think they did, and that’s what motivates them to attack the baseball, then so be it.”
In the first inning of the contest, a warning was given to Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto after a couple of Hofstra pitches hit WVU batters, which got under the skin of the 24th ranked Mountaineers. Although tensions ran high at times, no ejections were made and the play on the field took over.
The Mountaineers got to work early against the Pride, as a leadoff walk by Braden Barry, and steals of second and third base helped get a scoring threat going. After Dayne Leonard was hit by a pitch, Hofstra cut Barry down at home plate on a fielder’s choice, but on the next at-bat, Sam White drove in two runs on an RBI-single to left field. Hofstra starting pitcher Sean Hamilton put another man on base, but West Virginia couldn’t break the inning open, and after one, the Mountaineers led 2-0.
After a scoreless second inning from both clubs, Hofstra evened things up against the Mountaineers. An infield single and a walk put two men on base with nobody out, and a bunt moved the runners into scoring position. With one out, center fielder Dylan Palmer singled through the infield, bringing both runners around to tie the game at 2-2.
WVU starting pitcher Gavin Van Kempen settled down in the fourth inning, allowing no runs on no hits. In the bottom of the fourth, WVU regained the lead, but missed a prime opportunity to break things open.
Left fielder Landon Wallace started the bottom half of the fourth with a line drive doubled that barely stayed fair down the right field line. After the double, Evan Smith reached base on a bunt single, and with two on and no one out, catcher Logan Sauve singled to left, scoring Wallace.
Leading 3-2, shortstop Tevin Tucker got hit by a pitch, loading the bases with nobody out. With the bases loaded and JJ Wetherholt on deck, Barry flew out to shallow right field, and Smith was sent home by the third base coach on the shallow fly out, leading to a double play. Now with two outs, Wetherholt could not bring the runners in, as a nice play by Hofstra second baseman Santino Rosso ended the Mountaineer scoring threat.
Hofstra wasted no time tying the game again, as the Pride evened the score at 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning when third baseman Ryan Morash singled in a run. After 4.2 innings, WVU starting pitcher Gavin Van Kempen was finished for the day.
Carson Estridge relieved the starting Van Kempen, and out of the bullpen, Estridge went two innings without surrendering a run.
West Virginia broke the 3-3 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with a Sauve walk and a Barry double to put two men in scoring position with one man out. With the scoring threat, Hofstra intentionally walked Wetherholt to load the bases for Leonard. WVU took a 4-3 lead on a wild pitch, scoring Sauve.
After a scoreless seventh inning, Hofstra snatched the momentum back with a big swing off the bat of Kevin Bruggeman. With a man on base, the designated hitter took a Robby Porco pitch deep to left field for a two-run home run, giving the Pride a late 5-4 lead.
WVU did not let the Hofstra lead stand for long, as Wetherholt singled to start the bottom of the eighth inning. Wetherholt then stole second base and advanced to third on a wild throw. The tying run was now 90-feet away.
After the steal, Leonard was hit by a pitch, and Caleb McNeely came up to bat. McNeely laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Wetherholt narrowly beat the toss home to tie the game at 5-5.
After a no hit, no run half inning by reliever Keegan Allen, the Mountaineers now had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth.
With one out, Sauve and Tevin Tucker hit back-to-back singles to get the momentum going. Despite needing just one more big swing to win the game, the Mountaineers left the runners stranded after Barry grounded out into a crucial double play.
Luckily for the Mountaineers, Allen came back with a second straight one, two, three inning to keep the Pride offense in check. Despite the quick half inning, there was more drama with the Pride and the Mountaineers, as WVU’s White was cleated by Hofstra’s Dylan Palmer when completing a play at first base.
West Virginia would get the last laugh in the bottom of the tenth, as a two-out, nobody on base rally would lift the Mountaineers to victory. With Wetherholt and Grant Hussey being retired to start the bottom of the tenth, McNeely turned the tide with a big double down the left field line.
The game was now in the hands of first baseman Sam White, who had been shaken up on the field moments earlier. White drilled a single into center field, and McNeely came around to score the winning run, giving the Mountaineers the 6-5 victory.
“Who doesn’t want to be in that situation?” White said after the win. “I want to win this game for the team.”
WVU now improves its record to 16-5 overall and will set its sights to the Xavier Musketeers for a weekend series at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark.
