MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The WVU baseball team fell 9-7 to Eastern Michigan in game two of a doubleheader on Tuesday evening at Hawley Field. West Virginia won the first game, 20-6, to split the series.
West Virginia (14-9) put forth a good comeback effort in the bottom of the seventh, scoring one run, but left the bases loaded. Shortstop Grant Buckner started the rally with a single up the middle, followed by two fly outs. T.J. Kuban hit a single to center, while catcher Matt Malloy singled to load the bases. After a pitching change by the Eagles, L.K. Thompson pinch hit for WVU and drew a walk to score Buckner and bring the game to 9-7. Outfielder Brady Wilson ended the game with a bases loaded fly out to center field.
The Mountaineers finished with seven runs on 14 hits, while Eastern Michigan earned the win with nine runs on 11 hits. Neither team committed an error.
Wilson continued his offensive tear with a 3-for-5 performance, including his first home run of the season, three RBIs and a stolen base. Buckner went 2-for-3 with two runs, while Justin McDavid, Malloy and Thompson had one RBI apiece.
Offensively the Mountaineers scored three runs in the bottom of the second after Jeremy Gum was hit by a pitch and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan McBroom. Chris Rasky then singled through the left side to advance Gum, followed by a Malloy double to put men on second and third and score Gum. Wilson drove in Malloy and Rasky with a single to right field to end the scoring for West Virginia.
The Mountaineers also added a run in the fourth off a McDavid single to right field scoring Kuban, a run in the fifth when Buckner scored on a wild pitch and a run in the sixth on Wilson’s home run.
On the mound, freshman Corey Walter (2-1) took his first loss of the season, giving up six hits and six runs in 3.1 innings pitched. Freshman Ryan Tezak came in and provided 3.1 innings of relief, allowing only one run and three hits.
Joe Battistelli took the win for Eastern Michigan in three innings. Battistelli allowed three runs and five hits to the Mountaineers. Kyle Peterson came in for the final out of the game and earned the save.
Brent Ohrma and Daniel Russell each went 3-for-4 for the Eagles, with Russell driving in three runs. Ben Magsig also had two RBIs for Eastern Michigan.
The Mountaineers will begin the BIG EAST season when they travel to Tampa, Fla., for a three-game series with USF. Friday and Saturday’s games will begin at 7 p.m., while Sunday’s rubber match is set for 1 p.m.
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