WACO, Texas (April 29, 2023) – Graduate student Blaine Traxel was dominant, Saturday afternoon against Baylor, throwing a complete-game shutout as the West Virginia baseball team defeated the Bears, 10-0. The Mountaineers have now won seven straight and improve to 32-11 overall and 10-4 in the Big 12 while Baylor falls to 15-28 and 6-14 in conference play.
After a stretch of four complete games in five starts earlier in the season, Traxel hit a little bump recently, but got the train back on track with his first shutout of the season, striking out six, walking none, and allowing just six hits. Along with it being his fifth complete game for the Mountaineers this season, it is the 10th of his career after throwing five as an undergrad at CSUN. Traxel also becomes the first Power 5 pitcher to go the distance five times since Taylor Bloom of Maryland in 2016.
At the plate, sophomores JJ Wetherholt and Grant Hussey both went deep in the same game for the second time this week and fourth time this season. Wetherholt finished the day with three hits, two RBI, and two RBI while junior Braden Barry went 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
The Mountaineers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second as Wetherholt drove in a run with a bases-loaded groundout. The score remained the same until the seventh when Wetherholt hit his 10th home run of the season, a blast to right field against heavy winds blowing in.
West Virginia started to pull away in the eighth with three runs before putting up five runs in the ninth.
In the eighth, the Mountaineers only had one hit, but three runs came in with the bases loaded on a hit-by-pitch, walk, and a balk.
Hussey led off the ninth with a solo shot to right field, his team-leading 11th of the season. Junior Landon Wallace collected an RBI as he was hit by a pitch for the fifth time in two games to force in a run before a misplayed fly ball to left off the bat of sophomore Evan Smith resulted in three more runs for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia will look for its second straight Big 12 sweep tomorrow. First pitch from Baylor Ballpark is set for 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT.
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