WVU baseball improved its record to 37-5 (16-3 in the Big 12) today in a tough 4-3 win over UCF. The victory is the Mountaineers’ fourth consecutive series sweep as they sit atop the conference for the third straight week.
Jack Karstonas had another great game today as the starter for West Virginia. He finished with 6.2 innings pitched, five strikeouts, and three earned runs. Since becoming a starter for the Mountaineers three weeks ago, Karstonas is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA. Head coach Steve Sabins seems to have found his day 3 guy.
West Virginia got the scoring started in the first inning when Jace Rinehart lined a double into the left field corner, driving Skylar King all the way from first to score. UCF immediately responded in the bottom of the inning with an Andrew Williamson RBI double into left field, tying the score at 1-1 going into the second.
DeAmez Ross continued the scoring, and his incredible weekend with an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning to give the Knights a 2-1 lead. He finished the day 4/5 with two RBIs and two stolen bases to lead the team.
After great pitching and multiple runners stranded for each team, the score remained the same until the top of the fifth when Jace Rinehart doubled into right field for his second and third RBI of the game. At the very next at-bat, Sam White laced an RBI single into right field to put the Mountaineers up 4-2. All of a sudden, UCF found themselves against the ropes with four innings remaining.
The Knights were able to get one run back in the bottom of the sixth with another DeAmez Ross RBI single, but great pitching by junior left-hander Ben McDougal completely shut out UCF at the end of the game to give the Mountaineers the 4-3 victory.
This win is huge for Steve Sabins and a West Virginia team that is trying to play their way into a home regional in the NCAA tournament later this year. The biggest key to the series had to be the pitching staff, which is proving to have tremendous depth, and three starting pitchers who may be the best rotation in the entire Big 12.
The Mountaineers will face in-state rival Marshall on Wednesday, Apr. 30, with a chance to complete the season sweep 3-0. The first pitch will be at 6:00 p.m. ET, streaming live on ESPN+.
