West Virginia Evens Series with Emphatic 13-0 Win

The Mountaineers got back to their swinging ways against the Wildcats, capitalizing with three home runs

West Virginia senior starting pitcher Derek Clark delivers the pitch in the seventh inning. / Christopher Hall

Granville, WV – The West Virgina Mountaineers (30-19, 16-10) crushed the Kansas State Wildcats (29-20, 13-13) Saturday night 13-0 to even the series at one.

West Virginia starting pitcher Derek Clark collected his sixth win of the season. The senior tossed seven scoreless innings and tied for a season-high 10 strikeouts.

He didn’t pitch great in Cincinnati and gave up some hits and he was pretty driven that he was going to prove to everybody that’s not him last weekend, and he had a great week of work,” said West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey. “He was really, really good.”

West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey glares at home plate umpire Matt Neader in the middle of the second inning. /

Kansas State redshirt sophomore starting pitcher Jackson Wentworth came into weekend ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 82 strikeouts. He had four strikeouts in 2.3 innings of work, then the Mountaineers started to find success.

West Virginia produced a three-run third inning and did the damage with two outs on the board. With the bases loaded, Sam White ripped the first pitch up the middle for a pair of RBIs and placed runners at the corners. White stole second base and on the throw, junior JJ Wetherholt broke for the plate and slid safely home for the 3-0 WVU lead.

Wetherholt added a run in the sixth with a solo home run over the batter’s eye in centerfield.

West Virginia junior JJ Wetherholt watches his solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. /

“We wanted him (Wentworth) to throw a lot of pitches because he’s just a converted starter and he hasn’t gotten deep into games much, so we wanted every guy to see four or five pitches their first time through, and we did that. We didn’t swing at many pitches below the zone and eventually it started coming up. When a pitcher realizes you’re not going to chase his stuff below the zone, then he has to throw strikes, and when he did, we worked ourselves into some pretty good hitter counts.

West Virginia broke the game open in the seventh, and again, the Mountaineers did the damage with two outs. With the bases loaded, Wetherholt hit a hard ground ball up the middle and it ricocheted off the glove of junior shortstop Kaelen Culpepper for an RBI single. Freshman Michael Perazza also scored on the play on a low throw from Culpepper at the plate. Then, White drilled the 2-2 pitch and placed it on top of the facilities building in right field for a three-run home run to cap off a five-run seventh.

The Mountaineers continued their offensive output in the eighth. Sophomore Skylar King recorded an RBI on a fielder’s choice and Logan Sauve followed with a deep line drive down the left field line and over the wall for a three-run blast and a 13-0 lead.

West Virginia sophomore Sam White tracks down a fly ball in foul territory for the final out in the top of the sixth inning. / Christopher Hall

Freshman Joseph Fredericks took the mound in the eighth and Luke Lyman went 1-2-3 in the ninth to keep the Wildcats off the board in the final two innings as the Mountaineers coast to the 13-0 decision.

The Mountaineers and the Wildcats will square off for a series deciding game three Sunday afternoon. The first pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. EST.