College Pitcher Gets Out of 11th-Inning Jam With Crafty Double Pickoff

Dan Gartland | Apr 11, 2024

Marshall Baseball

The Marshall baseball team picked up a dramatic extra-innings victory over West Virginia on Wednesday night, thanks in large part to an unusual sort of double play.

The game went to extras after Marshall tied it at two on a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth. Nicholas Weyrich pitched a scoreless top of the 10th for the Thundering Herd and came out again to pitch the 11th, but quickly got into trouble, walking the first two batters of the inning.

Weyrich got himself out of the jam in the blink of an eye, though, with a flawless pickoff move that resulted in not one but two outs. The runner on second was completely frozen by Weyrich’s hesitation move, and the runner on first was caught in a rundown after the other runner was nabbed.

MY OH MY! 🔥😤

The unexpected double pickoff!

Two Down in the top of the 11th#WeAreMarshall pic.twitter.com/0xoCLUHekO

— Marshall Baseball (@HerdBaseball) April 11, 2024

Instead of having two runners on with nobody out, Weyrich found himself in a much more manageable situation with the bases empty and two gone. He allowed a single to the next batter (which likely would have resulted in the Mountaineers scoring the go-ahead run if that runner was still on second) but then induced a flyout to end the inning.

Marshall went on to win the game in the bottom of the 11th on a walk-off single by fifth-year senior Caden Kaiser.