Four Homers Power WVU to Series-Evening Win - West Virginia University Athletics - WVU Athletics

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LAWRENCE, Kansas – The West Virginia University baseball team bounced back for a 10-7 win over Kansas on Saturday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark.
 
A day after dropping the opener of the three-game, Big 12 Conference set, the Mountaineers smacked a season-high four home runs and tallied 13 hits in the series-evening victory. WVU scored in six of the nine innings, including three each in the fourth and sixth.
 
Freshman right-handed pitcher Chris Sleeper earned the win out of the bullpen, bolstering his record to 3-4 on the season. Fifth-year senior right-hander Chase Smith tallied the save, the first of his Mountaineer career, while Payton Allen took the loss for KU.
 
"This is the second time that we've had our backs against the wall," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "We were down two games to Texas Tech and came out and won the finale. It felt like this was that kind of game, too. When you get into a game that you have to win, your best players have to play well, and every guy in our lineup had a hit."
 
The Mountaineers (25-16, 8-6 Big 12) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, thanks to a pair of back-to-back doubles. First, freshman infielder JJ Wetherholt smoked a ground rule two-bagger, before junior outfielder Victor Scott II drove him in with a double of his own.
 
Kansas (18-25, 3-11 Big 12) took the lead with a two-run, bottom of the first inning, but WVU answered right back in the top of the second. Freshman infielder Grant Hussey led off the frame with an opposite-field blast to left center to make it 2-2.
 
Then, WVU took its second lead in the top of the third on sophomore catcher McGwire Holbrook's big fly to left. The Orlando, Florida, native sent his fifth homer of the year – a solo shot – 450 feet over the wall.
 
However, the Jayhawks cashed in on their own solo bomb to tie it at 3 after three innings.
 
In the fourth, the Mountaineers hit their third homer of the day, a three-run shot off the bat of senior outfielder Austin Davis to make it 6-3. Still, the hosts wouldn't go away, responding with three runs in the bottom half to tie it once again.
 
KU took a 7-6 lead with another solo homer in the bottom of the fifth. The advantage was short-lived, though, as the Mountaineers put three on the board in the sixth. West Virginia tied it at 7 with Davis' RBI double, before Scott II drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single.
 
The Mountaineers stretched it to 9-7 with their final run of the frame on a wild pitch.
 
Trailing by two, Kansas loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh. But Smith got the Mountaineers out of a big jam by getting a KU hitter to ground into an inning-ending double play to preserve the WVU lead.
 
The Marietta, Georgia, native went on to pitch the final 2.2 innings of the ballgame. He struck out one and didn't allow a hit to slam the door.
 
"He's a veteran and really threw the team on his shoulders," Mazey said of Smith. "He can keep the ball in the ballpark; it's hard to elevate the ball with him. So, on a big, home-run day, you want a guy that can throw it down in the zone and get some ground balls."
 
The Mountaineers found an insurance run in the top of the ninth when Hussey belted his second homer of the game to stretch the lead to 10-7. The freshman finished 3-for-5 with two RBI at the plate. For the year, the Washington, West Virginia, native now paces the club with eight long balls.
 
Along with Hussey, Davis and Scott II enjoyed multi-hit efforts in the win. The pair combined for six RBI.
 
Sophomore left-hander Ben Hampton started the game on the mound for West Virginia. He allowed five runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in 3.1 innings, before Sleeper logged 3.0 innings of relief. The Henrietta, New York, native was tacked for two runs on four hits.
 
With the win, the Mountaineers matched their 2021 season win total. The squad also finished the month of April with an 11-7 record.
 
Up next, the Mountaineers and Jayhawks are set to settle the series with Sunday afternoon's rubber game. First pitch in Lawrence is set for 1 p.m. ET.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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Four Homers Power WVU to Series-Evening Win - West Virginia University Athletics - WVU Athletics
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