West Virginia Wins in A High Scoring Shootout Against BYU

The baseballs were flying in Provo, Utah, today as the Mountaineers of West Virginia took on the Cougars of BYU in a rare shootout.

After a scoreless first inning, the Mountaineers would strike first as Armani Guzman hit a three-run home run over the centerfield fence to bring Chase Swain and Grant Hussey in to score and bring the score to 3-0 in favor of the Mountaineers. BYU had no answers, and West Virginia came back up to the plate with the hot hand. A quick Logan Sauve home run, Gavin Kelly double to left field, and a Grant Hussey double to right field had the Cougars at a 7-0 deficit in just the third inning. However, BYU managed to find their footing, dug in their heels, and produced a 5-run inning with the help of two advancing doubles and singles to bring the score to 5-7, still in favor of the Mountaineers.

The game looked like it was going to be close, going into the fourth inning a score of 5-7 is an exciting ball game for any fan to watch or attend. However, BYU went on a legendary scoring run that absolutely nobody saw coming, scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, flipping the script and giving them the 15-7 lead over the Mountaineers. Singles, Doubles, Triples, you name it, that is what the BYU hitters did to produce a monster half-inning of scoring. However, the Mountaineer’s mistakes also aided in BYU scoring 10 runs as pitcher Carson Estridge walked one batter, resulting in a run scored, and also hit a batter, resulting in another run being scored. Despite having to go through an inning as tragic as the Fourth inning was, the Mountaineers were not rattled, in fact, they fought back with a vengeance. The Mountaineers would score another 6 runs aided by a Spencer Barnett single, a Logan Sauve walk that scored Chase Swain, a Kyle West double, and a Jace Reinhart single to bring the Mountaineer’s deficit down to just two runs as the Cougars now led 15-13.

This inning is what gave the Mountaineers the confidence they needed. The Mountaineers would keep the Cougars scoreless throughout the rest of the game until the bottom of the ninth where BYU would find home plate just one time. However, due to back to back three-run innings in the seventh and eighth giving them the 19-16 win.

The Mountaineers are set to face off against the Ohio State Buckeyes on April 1st in a mid-season non-conference matchup. The first pitch is set for 6 pm.