Kyle West misplayed a ball in left field that eventually helped UCF take the lead.
He ended up making up for it in a big way, finishing the night going 3-for-4 with a triple and a home run, helping lead WVU to a comeback 7-6 win over UCF in game one on Friday.
The hardest hit balls for West Virginia did not make the biggest difference early.
WVU had a line drive hit by Sam White in the first which was caught, and then Reed Chumley slammed a double but JJ Wetherholt was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first.
In the second, it would be small ball that got WVU on the board. Kyle West reached on an infield single, before Brodie Kresser was able to do the same. West stole second during Kresser’s at-bat, before reaching third on his single. Aaron Jamison softly poked a RBI single through the left side of the infield, putting WVU ahead 1-0.
Jamison and Kresser would then pull off a double-steal, as Jamison swiped second, drawing a throw, and then Kresser slid home safely to beat the return throw from second base. UCF challenged the play, but the call was upheld, as West Virginia was in front 2-0 after the second.
Starting pitcher Aidan Major seemed to not be delayed by the roughly 90-minute delay due to rain at Kendrick Family Ballpark in Morgantown.
Major threw 10 pitches in the first inning, nine for strikes, as he picked up two strikeouts in the opening frame. He then added another two strikeouts in the second, as he went through the first two innings scoreless.
Major’s command which was stellar early, started to get away from him in the middle innings. Major started the fourth inning with a putout on a bunt, but it was downhill from there.
Major gave up a walk and a single, before both runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch from Major. Major then walked another batter to load the bases. Major got the second out on a strikeout, before Andrew Williamson hit a single off the end of the bat, tying the game at 2-2.
In the fifth, it was a similar story. Major got the first out against the first batter he faced, but that would be the last out Major records.
Major gave up five consecutive hits, as UCF went single, double, single, single, single. The double was a ground rule double, as Kyle West was unable to track the ball, as it landed and bounced over the wall.
The last three singles all scored a run, as UCF led 5-2. Major’s night ended in the fifth as he walked his fifth batter to load the bases.
Major completed 4.1 innings on the night surrendering five runs on seven hits, walking five, and striking out eight. He threw 93 total pitches and only 59 of them were strikes.
In came Carson Estridge, who recorded two strikeouts to end the inning and keep UCF’s lead at 5-2.
West Virginia would get two runs back in the bottom of the inning, as Kyle West was able to get a ball up into the wind, going over the left field wall, as UCF’s lead was cut to 5-4.
Estridge would stay in the game, and run into his most trouble in the sixth and seventh innings.
In the sixth, UCF had runners on the corners with one out, but was able to get a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning. He would not be as lucky in the seventh, as he gave up a one-out single, and then another single on a ball which barely stayed in fair territory over the first base bag, allowing AJ Nessler to reach third base. Nessler would then score on a single form Williamson, extending UCF’s lead to 6-4.
Estridge ended up throwing 2.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits, striking out two.
In the seventh, West Virginia got the first two runners on base, as Logan Sauve and White both walked. UCF turned to Kyle Kramer, who got Ben Lumsden to strike out swinging for the first out of the inning.
West then once again made up for his miscue in left field, as he hit a laser right over the center fielders head as he slide head first into third for a triple, and both runners scored, tying the game at 6-6.
Kresser would put WVU in front as UCF had their own fielding nightmare. Kresser was jammed and hit a ball to UCF first baseman Lex Boedicker. Boedicker would have the ball hit off his glove as Kresser reached safely, and West scored, and WVU went in front, 7-6.
David Hagaman came in the eighth inning, finishing the last two innings for WVU, striking out five in the process.
UCF starting pitcher Ben Vespa kept WVU hitters off balance for the most part early. Vespi was taken out in the fifth, as he struck out five, and gave up nine hits, leading to four runs.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
