In head coach Randy Mazey’s final regular season game at Kendrick Family Ballpark on Sunday, West Virginia took game three against Kansas State 12-5 to take two out of three in the series.
West Virginia got on the board first when Reed Chumley hit an RBI double to score Sam White off of a fielding error from Kansas State to make it 1-0 after one.
The Mountaineers would then extend the lead when Ben Lumsden hit a solo home run and Logan Sauve hit an RBI double to score Skylar King and make the score 3-0 after two innings.
After a scoreless third inning, Kansas State got on the board in the top of the fourth when Brendan Jones reached home plate off of a fielder’s choice that was upheld upon replay. In the bottom of the fourth, West Virginia tacked on three more runs off of a JJ Wetherholt three-run homer to make the score 6-1 after four innings.
West Virginia extended the lead in the fifth inning when JJ Wetherholt recorded an RBI walk to score Brodie Kresser and when Sam White hit a 2RBI single to score Skylar King and Spencer Barnett to make it 9-1 after five innings.
Kansas State cut into the deficit when Brady Day hit a 2RBI triple to score Kaelen Culpepper and Brendan Jones, Danniel Rivera hit an RBI single to score Brady Day, and Cayden Phillips hit a sacrifice bunt to score Danniel Rivera to make it 9-5 after six innings.
The Mountaineers extended the lead in the bottom of the seventh when Reed Chumley hit an RBI single to score JJ Wetherholt and make the score 10-5 after seven innings. Skylar King would then add on to that lead when he hit a two-run homer to extend the lead to 12-5 after eight innings.
West Virginia would seal the deal in the top of the ninth when Kansas State finished the inning with three consecutive groundouts.
Tyler Switalski got the win for the Mountaineers to move to 3-2 on the season. Switalski pitched five innings with five strikeouts and three earned runs.
Josh Wintroub took the loss for the Wildcats to fall to 2-4 on the season. Wintroub pitched 1.2 innings with two strikeouts and two earned runs.
Logan Sauve and Sam White tied for the Mountaineer lead in hits with three apiece, with JJ Wetherholt finishing with 4 RBI. Chuck Ingram was the lone Wildcat with more than one hit as he finished with two, and Brady Day finished the afternoon with 3 RBI.
Up next for West Virginia is their Big 12 regular season finale when they travel to Fort Worth for a three-game series against TCU starting on Thursday. First pitch for Thursday’s game is set for 7 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday at 5 p.m.