MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Terrence Spurlin had a home run and drove in three runs to lead Kansas State past West Virginia, 5-2 on Saturday in Manhattan, Kan.
West Virginia University baseball team fell at Kansas State, 5-2, on Saturday evening in Manhattan, Kansas.
K-State’s Connor McCullough grabbed the win, while sophomore left-handed pitcher Jake Carr took the loss for the Mountaineers (15-17, 6-8 Big 12).
“When you get into this part of the season, your best players have to play well,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “We just need the older, veteran guys on this team to be really good players. That’s what we’re not getting right now. If your best players aren’t playing well, then you aren’t going to win games.”
K-State (22-16, 5-9) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, after two WVU throwing errors and then tacked on four runs in the fourth, including Spurlin’s three-run blast, to seal the second game of the series.
On the mound, junior right-hander Zach Ottinger was effective in relief of Carr, allowing no runs on three hits with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
Junior left-hander Adam Tulloch also helped the cause, striking out four of the five batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings.
“Those were some bright spots for us,” Mazey said of the Mountaineer bullpen. “We need those guys to be good, and they were good today.”
The two teams finish the three-game series at 2 p.m. Sunday.
