West Virginia Baseball continued to stay hot with a 10-5 run victory on Saturday over Cincinnati. The win sweeps the series for the Mountaineers and improves them to 34-4 (13-3 in the Big 12) on the year.
Jack Karstonas shined on the mound for WVU. He finished with one hit allowed in six innings pitched. Typically playing from the bullpen, Kartsonas is morphing into a reliable third-day starter as one of the top ERA leaders in the Big 12.
Landyn Vidourek got the scoring started for Cincinnati in the third inning with a single into left field, giving the Bearcats a 1-0 lead.
After a slow start to the game, the bats of WVU came alive in the fourth inning. Sam White got things started with an RBI single. Then, a two-run double by freshman Chase Swain brought the West Virginia lead to two. A groundout by Spencer Barnett later in the inning made the score 4-1 WVU heading into the fifth.
The Mountaineers continued to build upon their lead in the fifth inning. Jace Rinehart singled into center field, driving in Logan Sauve for one run before Swain hit another RBI double. In the same inning, Spencer Barnett continued his solid day with a two-run double, making the score 8-1 in favor of West Virginia.
Logan Sauve homered in the sixth to make the score 9-1, and a fielder’s choice RBI by Brodie Kresser in the seventh put the Mountaineers one run away from a 10-run rule. They were roughly 10 feet short, as a double play by Cincinnati ended the inning, giving the Bearcats a little life.
Cincinnati took advantage of this double play, scoring runs in the eighth inning, cutting the lead to 10-5.
Tyler Hutson finished the final innings at the mound, protecting the Mountaineers’ 10-5 win. WVU will face Penn State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET with a chance to improve its winning streak to 15.
