GRANVILLE, W.Va. — West Virginia took full advantage of an abundance of free baserunners to race past Youngstown State 13-2, allowing the Mountaineers to claim both games of Friday’s doubleheader as well as a three-game sweep of the Penguins at Monongalia County Ballpark & Wagener Field.
After a 9-3 victory in the opening game of the twin bill, the Mountaineers (13-8) ran wild and stole 11 bases in the second contest of the day, while capitalizing on sloppy play from the Penguins (9-14) to build a 6-0 lead through three innings.
That was plenty enough run support for starting pitcher Jacob Watters, who picked up the victory with five scoreless innings. Watters did not allow a hit and struck out five, though he did issue five base-on-balls over his 79-pitch effort.
“Good game for the Mountaineers,” WVU manager Randy Mazey said. “We had eleven stolen bases, Watters did a great job and established himself as a starter. All the relievers attacked the strike zone. Really good three wins for us.”
Victor Scott and JJ Wetherholt each had four steals to lead WVU’s aggressive approach on the basepaths. The Mountaineers set the tone early in that department, with each of the aforementioned players stealing a base in the opening inning that led to Wetherholt scoring the game’s first run on one of five YSU errors.
Freshman Grant Hussey, who belted a pair of home runs in the first matchup of the day, drove in Scott on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
“It takes a load off your shoulders knowing me and JJ can go out there, put a bat on the ball and come up in big spots,” Hussey said. “It definitely is a weight lifted off everyone’s shoulders.”
Mikey Kluska’s groundout to score enable Evan Smith to score WVU’s third run in the second inning after Smith singled, took second on an error and stole third base with one out.
The Mountaineers doubled their lead in the third as the Penguins continued to hurt their cause with defensive miscues. Austin Davis scored the first run of the frame after a single and two YSU errors and Vince Ippoliti drove in Wetherholt with a single later in the inning. An error on the same play — the Penguins’ third of the inning — allowed McGwire Holbrook to score after he had walked.
That 6-0 advantage stood until Watters was relieved in favor of Zac Ottinger to start the sixth.
Braeden O’Shaughnessy’s RBI triple got the Penguins on the board and he scored his team’s second run on Andre Good’s fielder’s choice.
Leading 6-2 to start the home half of the sixth, WVU put the game out of reach with a seven-run inning that featured only four hits.
Wetherholt cleared the bases with a double to center that plated Davis, Tevin Tucker and Kluska for a 9-2 lead.
“We have a hitting board that measures all of our quality at bats and we go in and mark everybody’s quality at bat from that game,” Wetherholt said. “You hit a ball hard, you get on base, whatever you do to help the team out. We try not to think about average or getting hits. It’s really just about having a good at bat, getting on base and seeing a lot of pitches. When we do that and we get on base, pretty much everyone in the lineup is fast enough to steal a bag. We stick to our game and we steal a bunch of bases.”
Wetherhold would later score on a wild pitch and Nathan Blasick drew a bases loaded walk for the Mountaineers’ 11th run. Smith’s two-run double to left-center later in the inning marked the game’s final scoring play.
Ben Abernathy, Tyler Strechay and Carlson Reed each pitched one scoreless innings in relief, with Strechay striking out the side looking during the eighth.
In addition to their 11 stolen bases, the Mountaineers also drew 11 walks to go with their eight hits.
Wetherholt finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs. Smith was 2-for-4 and drove in a pair.
“We have a lot of speed guys and we don’t really have a ton of guys going up there and swinging for the fence every time,” Wetherholt said. “We have guys that can hit it out, but that’s not our goal. it’s just to see pitches, get on base, steal a bag, take one for the team and do whatever you can to help the team win.”
Matt Brosky, the first of seven pitchers used by Youngstown State, took the loss. He allowed six runs, though only two were earned, over 2 2/3 innings. Brosky scattered three hits, walked a pair and struck out two before being removed after throwing 62 pitches.
“Any win is a good win — it doesn’t matter who it is,” Hussey said. “It will allow us to roll right into Big 12 play.”
The Mountaineers play Tuesday at Marshall before beginning league play April 1-3 with a three-game series at TCU.
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March 26, 2022 at 06:29AM
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Mountaineers run wild in 13-2 victory over Youngstown State to complete sweep - West Virginia MetroNews
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