West Virginia Tops No. 3 Oklahoma - Evens Series
Granville, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers (22-11, 6-2) grabbed the early lead and never looked back to even the series 1-1 with a 5-2 decision over the third-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys (25-10, 8-3) Saturday evening. WVU starting pitcher Ben Hampton (6-2) collected his sixth win and Trey Braithwaite picked up his fourth save of the season.
"Two teams playing for first place – two really good teams – super competitive and both teams have a lot of fight in them, and we just so happened to win the fight," said West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey.
Nathan Blasick gave the Mountaineers their first lead of the weekend with a solo home run in the bottom of the second, his first of the season, to give West Virginia the 1-0 advantage.
J.J. Wetherholt ripped a one-out single through the right side, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then, with two outs and on the 3-2 pitch, McGwire Holbrook crushed a line drive 407 feet over the left field wall for the two-run home run, extending the Mountaineers lead to 3-0.
![Ben Hampton](https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTg4ODMyODE5MzYxODgzNjgw/img_2311.jpg)
Ben Hampton held Oklahoma State to a hit through three innings but in the third, Griffin Doersching received a two-out walk, and was able to move to second on a wild pitch before David Mendham drove him in with a single through gap on the left side. Nolan McLean doubled down the third baseline, placing runners at second and third. However, Hampton pitched himself out of the jam, ending the inning with a grounder right back to the mound.
Hampton again found himself in trouble in the fifth. With one out, Hampton pelted Caeden Trenkle, then Hueston Morrill hit a ground-rule double over the left field wall, putting runners at second and third. Jake Thompson hit a grounder over to short, and Tevin Tucker got the out at third, but the Cowboys were able to bring in a run before Hampton got out of the inning on an unassisted ground ball to first.
![Mikey Kluska](https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTg4ODMyODE5MzYxOTQ5MjY0/img_2301.jpg)
"We got a big out at third base when it was second and third with one out, the groundball to Tucker and he got that out at third and that was big, and he pitched out of some jams," said Mazey. "His strikeout numbers aren’t as high as they’ve been, but he doesn’t make it easy for you. That’s six [wins] for him now. We’re just past the halfway point, so he’s just killing it. We just got to keep him fresh and strong the rest of the season.
Austin Davis doubled into left-centerfield to lead off the fifth. Victor Scott worked a one-out walk before the duo swiped second and third, and on the tag at third, Davis reacted to what appeared a little nudge from third baseman Aidan Meila, pushing him back with one hand before Holbrook grounded back to the pitcher which scored Davis, stretching the lead to two, 4-2.
"You don't ever want to direct your stuff to the other team, but in a game like this when your team needs to see you fight like that, I love the way AD played today," said Mazey. "He needs to tone it down a little bit, but his competitiveness is off the charts - his desire to win, and that's what makes him a good player."
![J.J. Wetherholt](https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTg4ODMyODE5MzYyMDE0ODAw/img_2314.jpg)
Austin Davis also responded in the top of the sixth, racing in on a line drive that appeared to be dropping for a base hit but Davis dove to make the grab and turned an inning ending double play, catching the runner at second who never tagged the bag.
Oklahoma State reliever Kale Davis walked the bases loaded in the seventh before Holbrook drove a deep fly ball to centerfield for the sacrifice RBI, his third of the evening.
![Victor Scott](https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTg4ODMyODE5MzYxODgzNzI4/img_2258.jpg)
Victor Scott stole his 30th base of the season on the next pitch, breaking the single season record held by Mickey Mammarella set in 1986, it also was the Mountaineers' seventh stolen base of the game, pushing the season total to 115 and setting the single season record.
Noah Short came in relief for Hampton in the sixth. Hampton finished the evening, tossing 5.1 innings, five strikeouts allowing just two runs on four hits. Short went one and a third, no hits and a strikeout to setup Trey Braithewaite to close out the final two innings as the Mountaineers take game two 5-2.
The series finale is scheduled for 1:00 pm on Sunday.
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