After a stagnant close to the regular season that saw West Virginia baseball get shut out twice and swept in their final Big 12 series against Kansas, the Mountaineers bounced back on Thursday in their first game at the Big 12 Tournament.
The Mountaineers managed to double their scoring effort across three games last weekend in just nine innings on Thursday, tallying eight hits en route to a 10-3 victory over Cincinnati. It was the fourth win this season against the Bearcats for WVY, and with the win, the Mountaineers ended an eight-game losing streak at the Big 12 Tournament and advanced to the semifinals on Friday.
Six different Mountaineers tallied hits in the team's return to form on the offensive end of the diamond, with Grant Hussey and Gavin Kelly each recording two hits and Kyle West, Sam White, Spencer Barnett, and Brodie Kresser racking up one hit apiece. West managed WVU's lone home run of the afternoon and tallied two RBIs -- White also added two RBIs, while Kresser used a pair of sacrifice flies and his sole hit to drive home three RBIs.
On the mound, star pitcher Griffin Kirn -- a newcomer to the program this season after a strong Division 2 career -- demonstrated why the Mountaineers brought him to Morgantown. Kirn pitched a full nine innings without relief, and while he allowed eight hits, Cincinnati managed just three runs against Kirn. He also managed nine strikeouts and just one walk while facing 35 batters and tossing 129 total pitches as he moved his individual record to 5-2 on the season.
The Mountaineers advance to face Arizona in the semifinals, with action set for 5 p.m. EST on Friday. West Virginia lost their series with Arizona during the regular season that took place in Morgantown in March -- they dropped a 6-4 contest that went 16 innings and an 11-4 contest to close the series, but walloped the Wildcats 11-3 in the middle game of the series. Friday's game is set to be broadcast on ESPN+.