West Virginia Baseball is 10-0 After Second Win Against Queens
West Virginia University baseball team notched yet another win, defeating the Queens Royals 11-7 at Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis, N.C. The win clinched the series as well as a 10-0 record for first-year head coach Steve Sabins. Read more West Virginia Baseball is 10-0 after second win against Queens.
Hitting Clinic
WVU started the game off on the right note, as senior left fielder Jace Rinehart singled up the middle to plate senior shortstop Brodie Kresser.
The bottom of the first inning did not go to plan. The Royals notched a solo homer as well as a two-RBI single before Mountaineer starter Robby Porco was pulled for Chase Meyer. Meyer then gave up an RBI single which scored one of the runners he inherited, leaving a 4-1 scoreline after one inning.
Fighting Back
WVU was not prepared to go down without a fight. Kresser fought back with an RBI double, scoring sophomore right fielder Armani Guzman and redshirt junior third baseman Chase Swain. After loading the bases, QU pulled starter Kensen Green. This didn’t help matters as Rinehart walked with the bases loaded as Kresser scored to tie up the game. West Virginia then took the lead on a wild pitch as Logan Sauve crossed home plate, before junior second baseman Sam White repeated this feat the next at-bat to make the score 6-4.
Guzman added to the Mountaineer lead in the top of the third as he clobbered a home run to right center, followed by a Rinehart single to plate Sauve for an 8-4 WVU lead. The Royals got two runs back in the bottom of the frame with another two-RBI.
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Freshman pinch hitter Gavin Kelly added another run with an RBI single in the eighth to get White across for the ninth run. He then stole second base, with freshman pinch runner Jorge Valdes capitalizing on the throw by scoring. Spencer Barnett then notched an RBI Groundout to put the Mountaineers up 11-7.
Another Night, Another Win
It was another great performance at the plate for WVU, who went 13-37 with eight walks to score 11 runs. Rinehart was the star of the show within the Mountaineer lineup, going 3-4 with three runs batted in. Kresser also excelled with a 3-5, two-RBI and a double performance, as did Guzman who hit 2-5 with a solo homer.
Three pitchers got it done on the mound for the Mountaineers, with Carson Estridge turning in a vital 5.2 inning, three hit, and no runs performance to get his first save of the season. Meyer was the winning pitcher, and is now 2-0 on the year.
Steve Sabins praised WVU’s preparation and focus on not taking it one game at a time, while also having great team chemistry.
“The players and staff have stayed concentrated on preparing for each game and have not got ahead of themselves or wrapped up in tomorrow.” Sabins said. “They have stayed focused on playing clean baseball and supporting each other. This has allowed for us to be competitive up to this point”.
West Virginia goes for the series win tomorrow as the series moves to Greensboro, N.C., with the third of four games slated to start at First National Bank Field at 2 p.m.
