MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia baseball team split a doubleheader with Kansas on Saturday, March 27, at Monongalia County Ballpark, falling 9-2, before earning a 15-2 win in seven innings.
WVU’s victory in the nightcap helped the squad win the series over the Jayhawks, as well as post its 10th win of the season. Freshman right-handed pitcher Carlson Reed earned the win in Game 2, while junior left-hander Adam Tulloch took the loss in Game 1.
“The guys played pretty well,” WVU assistant coach Steve Sabins said. “I didn’t think the score of the first game of the doubleheader was very indicative of how the guys played. Tulloch pitched really great, and we hit a ton of balls hard and had very few strikeouts. Things just didn’t go our way offensively.
“In the second game, the guys came out swinging the bat, and they gave us some opportunities early with some walks, and we took advantage of that.”
Senior catcher/outfielder Paul McIntosh got the scoring started in Game 2, launching an opposite-field, solo home run in the bottom of the second. From there, WVU (10-9, 2-1 Big 12) plated three more runs on bases-loaded walks to take a 4-0 lead. The Mountaineers quickly chased KU’s Eli Davis, who took the loss, after just 1.1 innings of work.
Redshirt junior catcher/outfielder Vince Ippoliti tallied two-run singles in the second and fourth, as well as tacking on a sacrifice fly in the fifth to lead WVU offensively. The Houston native finished 2 for 3 with five RBI in the win.
Along with Ippoliti, WVU’s five-run fourth also saw an RBI single by freshman catcher McGwire Holbrook, two-run double by junior outfielder Austin Davis and an RBI groundout by fifth-year senior first baseman/outfielder Hudson Byorick.
In the sixth, fifth-year senior infielder Kevin Brophy slapped a two-run single, to pad the lead even more.
A trio of Mountaineers tallied two hits in the win, including sophomore catcher/infielder Matt McCormick (2 for 3), Ippoliti and McIntosh (2 for 3). On the mound, freshman left-hander Ben Hampton didn’t allow a hit in three innings of work, while Reed struck out three in three innings out of the bullpen. Junior right-hander Jake Watters also pitched a scoreless frame in the seventh.
Earlier in the day, Kansas (14-8, 1-2 Big 12) topped WVU, 9-2, in Game 1 of the twin bill. The Jayhawks used four-run innings in the sixth and eighth to pull away.
Tulloch was strong early for the Mountaineers, striking out the side in the first and allowing just one hit through five innings. However, KU got to the Weston, Fla., native in the sixth, before his exit after 5.2 innings of work.
Tulloch took the loss, while Kansas’ Cole Larsen grabbed the win.
The Mountaineers grabbed a 1-0 lead with McCormick’s sacrifice play to deep center to make it 1-0 in the fifth. From there, though, KU scored ninth straight runs from the sixth to the eighth. Sophomore outfielder Victor Scott tallied an RBI double in the ninth to help WVU draw one closer.
In all, the Mountaineers finished with two runs on 10 hits with an error in Saturday’s opener. Senior infielder Tyler Doanes led WVU with three hits, including two doubles in the setback. Scott and freshman infielder Mikey Kluska also tallied multi-hit performances.
