Early scoring and high-level pitching were the demise of West Virginia on Thursday night.
WVU traveled to Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday to begin its final regular season series against the TCU Horned Frogs. After the Mountaineers’ late arrival delayed the game’s start time, TCU came out unphased and on top, 6-3.
The game featured the matchup between two Dick Howser Trophy semifinalists. For the Mountaineers, it was projected top-10 MLB Draft pick JJ Wetherholt at shortstop, and for TCU, it was junior starting pitcher Payton Tolle.
Tolle, who celebrated the life of his late mother on Monday with his teammates after her weekend passing, got off to an early start against West Virginia. Tolle struck out three straight batters to start the first inning and finished his first run through WVU’s order with four strikeouts, one hit, and one walk.
The one hit came not from Wetherholt but from sophomore right fielder Ben Lumsden, who hit a home run to left field in the third inning. His run was the fourth of the game but West Virginia’s first, as TCU recorded four hits and three runs in the first two innings.
After TCU’s early start, Wetherholt tried to push West Virginia’s momentum, recording his only hit, a hard line off the glove of first baseman Karson Bowen, to start the fourth, but his efforts were to no avail. Tolle struck out two more batters and held WVU scoreless in the fourth, and TCU followed with two runs, brought in by an Anthony Silva home run.
Shortly after Silva’s home run, WVU senior pitcher Hayden Cooper hit Sam Myers with the pitch, causing coach Randy Mazey to take Cooper out of the game. In almost four innings, Cooper threw three strikeouts and no walks but allowed seven hits and five runs, giving him the loss.
TCU scored just one run, where junior DH Logan Maxwell scored on a fifth-inning RBI groundout from Brody Green, after Cooper’s removal. Nevertheless, TCU’s damage was done, and Payton Tolle was nowhere near that.
Tolle pitched seven full innings and went through one batter in the eighth. He finished with 11 strikeouts and three walks and allowed five hits and two runs. Ben Lumsden scored both, with his second coming in the fifth off a Logan Sauve RBI single.
His fellow Dick Howser semifinalist, Wetherholt, was silent from the plate the remainder of the day aside from watching four straight balls from Hunter Hodges in the eighth. He fielded four grounders and missed two dives, allowing hits. He also missed a key tag in the second inning on Silva, who advanced to third on a balk soon after then scored.
West Virginia went through four pitchers in the game, including Cooper. Freshman Chase Meyer pitched two hits, one run, and three walks in 1.2 innings. Sophomore Luke Lyman followed, recording two strikeouts and 23 pitches in the same amount of innings, and Robby Porco closed for WVU in the eighth, throwing a walk and a strikeout. Each pitcher hit one batter except Lyman.
Hunter Hodges pitched to two batters in the eighth inning, allowing a hit from Sauve and a walk from Wetherholt. He was replaced by Ben Abeldt with bases loaded, who managed to allow just one run from Skylar King, brought in by Reed Chumley’s deep sacrifice fly to right field. Abeldt held WVU scoreless in the ninth and recorded three strikeouts total.
The Mountaineers will look to bounce back Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET in Fort Worth. The game can be streamed on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
