GRANVILLE — At this point, West Virginia may as well just start every game from the ninth inning.
That seems to be when the Mountaineers are at their best.
They pulled off their fifth ninth-inning comeback and third walk-off victory of the season Friday night in a 7-6 victory against Baylor at Mon County Ballpark.
“I think this team has a lot of good competitors and they like challenges,” said WVU first baseman Nathan Blasick, who was the hero by taking a bases-loaded walk on a full count with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to drive in the winning run. “This team has some really good athletes and they like to compete.”
WVU (18-10, 3-1 Big 12), which has won three in a row, trailed Baylor, 6-4, heading into the eighth inning.
But, that’s when things were just getting started.
J.J. Wetherholt scored Austin Davis with a double and Braden Barry walked with the bases loaded to score Victor Scott to tie the game, which set up Blasick to be the hero in the ninth.
By the time he took his turn at bat, the bases were loaded and there were two outs.
No pressure, right? Well, maybe not for Blasick, a sophomore from Halifax Pa., who generally is subbed late into games as a pinch hitter and defensive specialist.
“There’s not a lot of stuff going through that kid’s mind,” WVU designated hitter McGwire Holbrook said. “He can hit, that’s pretty much all he knows. He’s a smart kid, but in the box, there’s not a lot going through that kid’s mind other than hit the ball or don’t swing. He’s a pretty calm kid.”
It was Blasick against Baylor reliever Mason Marriott, and the two battled over an eight-pitch sequence that saw Blasick just barely getting a piece of one pitch to foul it off with two strikes to keep his at-bat alive.
“I’ve been in that situation a lot this year,” Blasick said. “I’ve kind of been a guy to come into big situations and hit. I was just looking for something to hit. He was struggling to throw strikes. He was throwing a lot of fastballs. I was looking for a good one to hit, but it didn’t really come.”
Marriott tried to hit the outside corner with his final pitch. It looked close, like really really close, but was called off the plate and Blasick trotted towards first with his seventh RBI of the season and Kevin Dowdell scored to end the game.
“It was a good two or three balls off the plate,” Blasick said. “It looked close, but it was definitely off.”
The Mountaineers overcame an early base running blunder to pull off the win.
In the first inning, after coming back from a 15-minute rain delay, Davis was called out at home after not touching the plate on what should have been a sacrifice fly and the first run scored of the game.
After Baylor appealed the run and Davis was called out for missing home plate, the play was reviewed and upheld.
As the game continued to be close later in the game, WVU head coach Randy Mazey wondered how much that run could have helped.
“One run wins the game and it’s hard when you know you’re having a good season and you’re playing well,” he said. “So it’s hard not to get upset at times. One of the hardest things is not letting your team know you’re upset at something. We play a lot better when they ignore me.”
The Mountaineers’ bullpen kept them in it throughout, with Noah Short, Carlson Reed and Trey Braithwaite allowing just one run over 5 2/3 innings.
Holbrook smacked a solo home run in the fourth inning and he also added a double. Mikey Kluska had three hits and drove in two runs and Davis had two hits and reached base four times to help make up for his base running mistake.
Braithwaite picked up his second win by pitching a scoreless ninth.
Mariott took the loss for the Bears (16-13, 2-5), who will play WVU in the second game of the series at 1 p.m. today.
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