West Virginia baseball needed a reset.
After losing game one on Friday to Indiana, and dropping their sixth game in a row, Mountaineer head coach Randy Mazey shuffled his lineup, hoping to spark something in his team as they were looking to avoid being eliminated against Ball State.
That lineup shift for Mazey would work, fueled by the longball, as they tied their season high with four home runs, and staved off elimination with a 13-5 victory over Ball State. This win also tied the program record set back in 1994, as this is WVU’s 40th win on the season.
“We hadn’t felt this good in a little while,” Mazey said.
JJ Wetherholt has been the driving force of the West Virginia offense, and he got moved to the leadoff spot — a place he was familiar with from the first half of the season.
Wetherholt singled in his first at-bat, before getting the home run parade started for the Mountaineers in the third. Ellis Garcia singled to start the inning, before Tevin Tucker reached on a throwing error. Wetherholt would hit his first home run in seven games, and it was also the first time he’s drove in a run in the last seven games, giving WVU a 3-1 lead.
West Virginia starting pitcher Ben Hampton, seemed to be cruising early on and was well on his way to giving WVU the shutdown inning they needed.
Hampton gave up one run in the second but quickly got back-to-back outs in the third. Then, Ball State figured the left-hander out, reaching on six consecutive hits, all with two outs, to score four runs and take a 5-3 lead.
Adam Tellier started it with a hustle double before the Cardinals used five singles in a row to retake the lead.
It would not take long for the Mountaineer offense to answer in the fourth though. Dayne Leonard homered on a ball that kept carrying over the right field fence before Ellis Garcia doubled and Tucker reached on a bunt single.
That would bring Wetherholt to the plate with one out, who would hit a ground ball to first, but Tucker was able to beat the tag to second base, allowing Garcia to score and the Mountaineers to keep the inning alive. That next batter was Logan Suave who hit a two-run home run, putting West Virginia in front 7-5.
“My first two at-bats weren’t good. I watched a lot of pitches,” Suave said. “I went into my third at-bat just be aggressive. When I got a fastball, just jump on it. And I did.”
Hampton would be pulled in the fourth for Aidan Major, and Major (4-2) was close to perfect for the remainder of the game.
Major — who had given up at least two runs in his last four appearances — was just what West Virginia needed out of the bullpen. Major would bridge the gap from the fourth inning to the eight, pitching five innings and giving up no runs, while tying his career-high with eight strikeouts.
“The difference for me today was starting ahead of hitters,” Major said. “I think, I haven’t looked at it officially yet or anything, but I think there’s only two hitters the entire outing that I was behind in the count, maybe three.”
West Virginia headed to the ninth inning ahead 8-5 after Grant Hussey homered in the seventh to put WVU up by three.
In the ninth, the Mountaineer offense put things out of reach, scoring five runs by using the bottom of the order.
McNeely walked, before Hussey and Braden Barry were both hit by pitched to load the bases. Ball State made a pitching change to Jacob Hartlaub but he would not be able to stop the Mountaineers.
Leonard singled to score two, before Tucker doubled to score two more. Suave then added a single to plate one more as WVU scored five runs in the ninth to seal the score at 13-5.
Noah Short came into the game in the ninth, using 16 pitches to get three outs and finish the game.
Ball State sent Ty Johnson to the mound to get the start. Johnson would throw four innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits, while walking two and striking out five. Ty Weatherly followed Johnson, pitching 4.1 innings, striking out six, while surrendering four runs.
Tucker’s Turnaround
Tevin Tucker was the leadoff hitter for the better part of the second half of the season for West Virginia. Tucker would be moved to the ninth spot and would not disappoint. Tucker went 2-for-3 with two walks, and reached on an error, as he reached base in all five of his plate appearances.
“You know, Tevin’s deal was hitting in front of JJ,” Mazey said. “If JJ is second, Tevin’s first, he’s in front of JJ. If JJ is first, that means Tevin’s ninth. You put him ninth, and he probably takes a deep breath, relaxes, gets on base five times today. So it doesn’t always work that way. But it sure did work out today.”
Hampton, Major, Could Pitch Again?
West Virginia is a long way away from forcing a Monday matchup, but they could still possibly use Aidan Major and Ben Hampton. Both pitchers threw 60 pitches and could possibly still be available later in this regional.
Wetherholt shows up
JJ Wetherholt showed up on Saturday. In the leadoff spot, Wetherholt went 3-for-5, with four RBI, and was intentionally walked once. The Big 12 Player of the Year can put this team on his back, and they hope it helps carry them if you’re the Mountaineers.
What’s Next?
West Virginia will be back in another elimination game tomorrow at noon against the loser of Kentucky and Indiana who play tonight.
“I think everybody is feeling good. Dayne Leonard and JJ both wore each other’s batting practice tops today by accident. So they’ll be doing that again tomorrow. So we’re going to try and stick to the routine that’s working,” Mazey said.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
