WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — West Virginia coach Randy Mazey picked up his 200th win at WVU on Saturday, but No. 201 will have to wait as the Mountaineers split a doubleheader with host William & Mary.
The Mountaineers (11-7) cruised to a 9-1 win in the opener behind another strong showing from starting pitcher Alek Manoah, but fell 6-4 in the nightcap after the Tribe (13-3) rallied for five runs in its final three at-bats.
“If you want to be a good team, you have to be consistent,” Mazey said. “You have to do it day in and day out, and we’re just not doing that right now.”
Manoah (3-1) was in his usual dominant form, striking out nine while allowing one unearned run in 7 innings. The offense gave him plenty of breathing room, tying season highs with nine runs and 13 hits.
Darius Hill was 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Brandon White and Tevin Tucker drove in two runs apiece, and Kevin Brophy added his fourth homer of the year with a solo shot to lead off the fifth.
The offensive spurt carried into the nightcap as the Mountaineers scored twice in the top of the first. The lead grew to 4-1 on T.J. Lake’s two-run homer in the sixth, but William & Mary bounced back with a two-run homer by Hunter Smith to chase West Virginia starter Jackson Wolf from the game in the bottom of the sixth.
Smith struck again in the seventh with a two-out, two-run double off Sam Kessler to put the Tribe in front. Both runs driven in by Smith reached base courtesy of back-to-back two-out walks from Beau Lowery (0-2).
Chris Farrell picked up his third save for the Tribe, working around Paul McIntosh’s leadoff single in the ninth with a pair of ground balls and a strike out.
