Kearns,Mountaineers Win Series vs. No. 19 Texas

By rscaife
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Updated: April 29, 2018

Courtesy of West Virginia Athletics
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 29, 2018) – The West Virginia University baseball team won its second consecutive Big 12 series with an 8-3 victory over No. 19 Texas on Sunday afternoon at Monongalia County Ballpark.

The Mountaineers (22-19, 6-9 Big 12) benefited from a three-run fourth inning, a four-run eighth and a strong performance from the WVU pitching staff to defeat the 19th-ranked Longhorns (30-17, 12-6) for the second consecutive day.

“Kids just get excited to play against Texas, especially Texas kids,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “I do too. When I woke up in the morning, today was an opportunity to beat one of the best programs in the history of college baseball. So, fans get excited about it. They come out to see us, and players get excited. When we joined the Big 12, that’s what we bargained for, weekends like this, and that’s what we got.

In front of 2,033 fans in Sunday’s finale, West Virginia scored eight runs on 12 hits while holding Texas to three runs, two earned, on five hits.

“This was the biggest scout day of the year, probably, because we’re playing against Texas,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “That fires you up, as a hitter, you want to play the best. … We have to just keep going. We’ve put ourselves in a position now that if we make a run at this thing, then we have a chance. With that being said, doing everything right is really going two- and three-fold. If you have a chance to win a championship, you don’t get to take a day off when acting like a champion. I hate to stand here and talk about championships right now, but on the back of our shirts it says, “Here We Come.” Traditionally, the second half of the season, this is where we’ve been.”

Sophomore right-handed starter Isaiah Kearns was strong on the mound and earned his first quality start of the season. In 6.1 innings, he allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks. He gave up two runs in the first before holding Texas to just one hit in the next five innings.

Freshman right-handed reliever Tristen Hudson followed with 1.2 shutout innings, and sophomore righty Alek Manoah pitched a scoreless ninth. Hudson gave up just one hit with three strikeouts and no walks, while Manoah did not allow a hit with two strikeouts.

At the plate, freshman third baseman Tyler Doanes had a career-best four RBIs with two hits and two runs scored to lead the offense. A bases-loaded, three-RBI triple in the eighth inning turned a 4-3 WVU lead into a four-run advantage.

Additionally, junior second baseman Kyle Gray extended his team-best and career-long hit streak to 18 games and his reached-base streak to 19 games with one hit, an RBI, two runs scored and a walk. Sophomore first baseman Marques Inman had a team-leading three hits to extend his reached-base streak to a career-best 16 games.

Texas took a 2-0 lead in the first, scoring the first run on a throwing error and the second, which was unearned, on a groundout.

Kearns left a runner on in the second, third and fourth before the Mountaineers took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth with three runs on four hits.

Junior right fielder Darius Hill led off the inning with a walk and Inman followed with a double to left to put runners on second and third. Gray the grounded out to score Hill, and Doanes singled home Inman. Freshman designated hitter Connor Hamilton added a two-out single through the left side to bring home Doanes.

The Longhorns were held scoreless by Kearns in the fifth and sixth before back-to-back singles with one out in the seventh. Hudson relieved Kearns and gave up a run-scoring single, but limited the damage to keep the West Virginia lead intact, at 4-3.

The Mountaineers added four insurance runs in the eighth inning, as the first four batters reached and WVU batted around in the inning. Hill led it off with a single and advanced to third on a single by Inman. Gray then walked to load the bases for Doanes, who tripled to left-center to clear the bases. Doanes scored the innings’ final run, extending West Virginia’s lead to 8-3, as junior pinch-hitter Andrew Zitel reached on a fielder’s choice.

Manoah took the mound in the ninth inning and struck out a pair to seal the series win for the Mountaineers.