Texas Tech beats WVU baseball again
The WVU baseball team is down to its last game of the regular season.
The Mountaineers have been tough-luck losers to the No. 5 team in the country, Texas Tech, in each of the past two days. On Friday, the Red Raiders knocked off the Mountaineers, 4-2, in Lubbock.
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West Virginia and Texas Tech will finish off this series, the final one of the regular season, on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Mountaineers will be gunning for their 33rd win of the season as they now stand at 32-21 after the most recent loss.
Like WVU’s loss to Texas Tech on Thursday (an eventual 2-1 defeat), the Mountaineers held an early lead. First, they battled back from a 1-0 deficit to take a 2-1 lead of their own in the fourth inning.
Jackson Cramer and Ray Guerrini had the team’s only two RBIs. Coincidentally enough, both players were hit by pitches with the bases loaded to force a run home.
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Other than that, the WVU baseball team was limited at the plate. The Mountaineers actually outhit Texas Tech, 8-5, but they just didn’t reach at the most opportune times. In all, West Virginia left eight on base while the Red Raiders only left three runners on.
After falling behind by one run, Texas Tech was able to get the lift it needed with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning by way of a home run off the bat of Hunter Hargrove.
West Virginia pitcher Ross Vance, in relief of BJ Myers, gave up the blast to Hargrove, who was the first batter he faced.
Starting on the mound for the Mountaineers was Cad Donato, who went six innings and struck out 10. Myers came on in relief in the seventh inning and recorded one out before Vance gave up the eventual winning shot.
The Mountaineers have nothing to hang their head about in these past two games. Yes, a nation-bets 10-game winning streak has already come to a close, but the WVU baseball team has proven it can hang with one of the nation’s best programs.
West Virginia has played close-to-perfect games against the Red Raiders, but have come up short because the Red Raiders are a polished, seasoned, veteran and experienced team.
The Mountaineers aren’t quite there just yet. However, this final regular season series has been a great learning experience for the young players on the squad.
Next year, and certainly the season after, the WVU baseball team can call itself polished, seasoned, veteran and experienced because of the stretch-run of this year’s team.