Saturday evening, the 35-5 Mountaineers took on the 23-18 UCF Knights.
West Virginia came into the game at first place in the Big 12 with a 14-3 conference record, while UCF entered at No. 11 in the Big 12 with a 6-13 conference record.
The Mountaineers got their bats going early, with second baseman Gavin Kelly scoring Kyle West and Skylar King with a single to left field. Grant Hussey then doubled, scoring Sam White. Brodie Kresser kept the inning going with a perfectly placed bunt single, sending one more home before Spencer Barnett’s sacrifice fly to center field ended the top of the fifth at 5-0, West Virginia.
UCF answered quickly with right fielder Ander Williamson hitting an RBI single, scoring Deamez Ross. Designated hitter Andrew Sundean then barreled a three-run homer to make the score 5-4 at the end of the first.
Both teams were held scoreless afterwards until the bottom of the fourth, when Antonio Jimenez had an RBI single for the Knights, tying the game at 5-5. To follow that up, Sundean hit an RBI double, putting the Knights ahead 6-5 after four innings.
The back-and-forth battle continued as Gavin Kelly had a sacrifice to center field, tying the ball game again at 6-6 after the top of the fifth.
Sundean kept his night going with an RBI walk for his fifth RBI of the night to finish the fifth. The score was now 7-6 UCF.
After a mindless error by UCF pitcher Angelo Smith, Armani Guzamn scored for the Mountaineers making tying the game once again at 7-7.
Antonio Jimenez scored for UCF after a ground out by Andrew Williamson in the seventh, putting the Knights on top again.
West Virginia stayed active at the plate, scoring four more in the top of the eighth, including a two-run double by Skylar King. In the bottom of the eighth, Edian Espinal and Antionio Jimenez both score to bring the Knights back within one.
To pad the lead, Brodie Kresser scored Gavin Kelly with a single to center field for his second RBI of the game. To follow that up, Ben Lumsden poked out a three-run homer to secure that game for West Virginia, making the final score 15-10.
Gavin Kelly led the Mountaineers with three RBIs. Kyle West finished the night 3-3 at the plate with two runs scored.
Chase Meyer was awarded the win with 1.1 innings pitched for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia looks forward as they look to complete the sweep in game three of the series against UCF tomorrow.
