Mountaineers erupt for six-run second inning behind Sean Smith’s three-RBI night and Maxx Yehl’s strong start
The No. 17 West Virginia Mountaineers avenged Friday's lopsided loss to the No.22 Arizona State Sun Devils with an emphatic 13-4 win Saturday night. West Virginia grabbed the early advantage in the top of the first inning when sophomore Matt Ineich and Gavin Kelly started the inning with consecutive singles to place runners at the corners.
Then, with one out, Sean Smith rolled an RBI single through the right side of the infield. Arizona State sophomore Landon Hairston tied the game in the bottom of the frame after hitting a leadoff double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and took home on an errant throw on an attempted pickoff attempt at third from Kelly. The Mountaineers seized momentum in the second and captured a commanding lead. Seniors Brodie Kresser and Matthew Graveline began the inning with back-to-back singles before Tyrus Hall dropped a one-out, two-RBI single in front of the left centerfield wall, and eventually crossed home on a wild pitch. Then, with runners standing on first and second, Smith flared and RBI single to shallow right centerfield, and the throw in from the outfield skipped toward the Sun Devils dugout, scoring another Mountaineer run to cap a six-run second inning for a 7-1 lead. West Virginia added a run in the third when Armani Guzman sliced a one-out double down the left field line. The junior stole third on Hall's four-pitch walk to place runners at the corners and stole home on a double steal for an 8-1 advantage. Hairston put a pair of Sun Devil runs on the board in the fifth with a two-run blast to cut the WVU lead to five, 8-3. West Virginia tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth. Kelly delivered his fourth home run of the season with a 364-foot two-run shot over the left field wall, and after a double by senior Paul Schoenfeld, Smith collected his third RBI on the night on a single to left field. West Virginia redshirt junior Maxx Yehl recorded his fifth win of the season, limiting an Arizona State squad to three runs, striking out four, in seven innings after the Sun Devils posted 14 runs in the series opener Friday night. Reese Bassinger took the mound in the eighth. The junior gave up a single to junior PJ Moutzouridis, beaned redshirt sophomore Austen Roellig before fifth year senior Dean Toigo dug out an RBI double down the right field line. The Mountaineers loaded the bases in the ninth before Ineich grounded out to short for a run and Kelly chopped an RBI infield single to the hole on the left side of the infield to extend the lead to nine, 13-4. West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins handed JD Costanzo the ball in the ninth. The redshirt freshman gave up a pair of singles to set up a three-run home run by graduate senior Matt Polk. After a mound visit, the lefty struck out two and recorded the final out on a grounder to short as the Mountaineers captured the 13-7 decision. West Virginia and Arizona State will meet in a series deciding game three Sunday night. The first pitch is set for 8:00 p.m. EST and will be televised on ESPN2.
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