Granville, W.Va. — Following West Virginia’s win in game two over Texas Tech on Saturday, Mountaineer head coach Randy Mazey said he would be able to judge if his 12th-ranked team was good or great.
Nine pitches into the game, Mazey took out his starting pitcher Robby Porco threw a total of nine pitches and facing two batters. Those two batters would walk and double before Mazey turned to Noah Short.
Short would get Kevin Bazzell to ground out, before Ty Coleman hit into a double play as West Virginia escaped their early nightmare only down 1-0. The Mountaineer bullpen would then only surrender four more hits across the next eight innings combined with timely home runs from JJ Wetherholt and Caleb McNeely as the Mountaineers beat Texas Tech 5-3 in their home finale, to take the series from the Red Raiders.
“There’s nothing that they haven’t done yet,” Mazey said of his ballclub. “They’re so impressive the way they bounce back from stuff. The way we pitch, the way we hit, the way we run the bases, play defense, we’re checking just about every box you have to check to be a great team.”
The Mountaineers used a total of five arms out of the bullpen, with the duo of David Hagaman and Carlson Reed combining to pitch the final 5.2 innings, allowing no hits, and striking out seven.
“We knew we had a fresh bullpen going into today so obviously we weren’t afraid to use them,” Mazey said. “Hagaman and Reed that’s what they’ve been doing the whole season. It sure was nice to have them both today having not thrown on Friday and Saturday.”
West Virginia (39-13, 14-6 Big 12) found themselves down 2-0 in the second as Grant Hussey tried to turn a double play, but Tracer Lopez was able to beat the throw back to plate Texas Tech’s (35-18, 10-11 Big 12) second run of the game. The Mountaineers wasted no time in the bottom of the inning to respond with Dayne Leonard singling before Hussey scored Leonard on a double.
The Mountaineers played small to tie the game in the third inning as Tevin Tucker walked and advanced to third on a Landon Wallace single. Wallace then attempted to steal second, but Tech pitcher Ryan Free prioritized getting Wallace out at second, allowing Tucker to come home safely and tie the game.
Hagaman (1-1) would come in for the Mountaineers in the fourth inning after Maxx Yehl put runners on second and third with one out. Hagaman got the Mountaineers out of the jam, and they were only down 3-2 on the scoreboard, ending the inning with a strikeout.
“He’s really huge and I like how he’s going this season,” Reed said of Hagaman. “Him being a redshirt and having a whole year to learn, he really grew into himself, and I really like it.”
The heartbeat of West Virginia’s lineup in Wetherholt stepped to the plate in the fifth and rocketed a home run to the visiting bullpen in left field, to tie the game. It was Wetherholt’s 15th home run of the season.
“Whenever I catch a ball like that to left field, I’m usually pretty sure when I hit it,” Wetherholt said. “That one was definitely one I thought had a great chance to go.”
The longball would be used again by the Mountaineers as Caleb McNeely connected on a two-run home run to give the West Virginia a 5-3 lead in the sixth.
“What a huge homer today. It’s not easy to hit a ball that far,” Mazey said. “He’s hitting seventh in the lineup. It just tells you what our lineup is like when guys that far down are hitting balls that far.”
In the eighth, the Mountaineers turned to their closer Reed, who carried a 1.59 ERA in 11.1 innings pitched this year. Mazey gave the ball to Reed hoping he would get the final six outs of the game and he did just that.
Reed got two quick outs in the eighth before an error from third baseman Ellis Garcia on a low throw put a runner on first with two outs. Reed would be denied multiple borderline calls as he walked the bases loaded to face Dillon Carter.
The Mountaineer closer would get Carter to strike out swinging, keeping the momentum — and lead — with the home team.
In the bottom of the eighth, McNeely would slide into second base but was called for runner interference, prompting the ejection of West Virginia first base coach Jacob Garcia.
With a crowd of 3,312 on their feet at Monongalia County Ballpark, Reed wasn’t fazed. Reed struck out Zac Vooletich on three pitches to end the game, giving West Virignia their fifth consecutive Big 12 series win.
“As soon as [Garcia] got tossed I was like, ‘okay, we got to go here,’” Reed said. “Having the crowd behind all of us is amazing.”
“I was worried about the error we made with two outs in the eighth because he had to face three more hitters and we knew the middle of their lineup was going to get another at-bat,” Mazey said of Reed’s performance in the final two innings.
“Because it was the middle of the lineup, he got better against their better hitters. He was really good, that’s what makes him one of the best relievers in the country,” Mazey added of Reed.
In total, the four arms of Short, Yehl, Hagaman, and Reed combined to record 27 outs while giving up only two runs on four hits and striking out eight.
The Mountaineers were paced offensively by Wetherholt, Wallace, Hussey, and Leonard, who all had two hits on the afternoon, which accounted for eight of the nine team hits.
West Virginia earned win 39 on Sunday which puts them one game short of tying the program record for wins in a season. The Mountaineers also control their own destiny heading into the final weekend of the regular season as far as trying to win their first Big 12 Regular Season Championship.
“I don’t know that this was the biggest crowd, but this crowd was more into the game than any others,” Mazey said. “That’s a crowd that’s getting used to coming to games and that’s what helps us win.”
