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After a long day of baseball at Monongalia County Ballpark, the West Virginia Mountaineers (8-5) will sleep well tonight; they have won the first two games of the series over the Kent State Golden Flashes (4-9).
For the first 5 1⁄2 innings, the Golden Flashes looked like they were going to run away with the 2nd game of the doubleheader; they led 4-0, had already bounced three Mountaineer pitchers from the game and had a starter who was on cruise control... but then West Virginia woke up offensively.
In the bottom of the 6th, the Mountaineers put 5 runs on the board after RBI singles by RF Darius Hill and DH Marques Inman and a three-run home run by LF Paul McIntosh.
They added 3 more runs in the bottom of the 8th after an RBI triple by DH Marques Inman and an RBI single by C Ivan Gonzalez who then scored on a wild pitch to 1B Kevin Brophy that extended their lead to 4 runs and putting a bow on another Mountaineer win.
Wolf’s Short Outing
Jackson Wolf, the WVU #2 starter, only lasted 2.0 innings in today’s game due to his lack of control. Coach Mazey had a short leash for Wolf because he knows how important it is for WVU to win these games against lesser opponents. Wolf wasn’t necessarily bad - he only surrendered 2 runs, but Kent State was able to sit on his low 90’s fastball because his offspeed pitches, a curveball and slider, just weren’t finding the strike zone. Wolf will look to get back on track next Saturday in Williamsburg, VA against William & Mary.
Kurtzhals’ First Career Win
Gabe Kurtzhals, a freshman right-hander from Fort Worth, Texas earned his first collegiate win tonight with 2 scoreless innings. So far in 2019, Kurtzhals has thrown 8.0 innings with 4 strikeouts and just 2 earned runs allowed (2.25 ERA). Coach Mazey has to be impressed by Kurtzhals, as he’ll likely get another chance to pitch sometime this coming week against either Morehead State or William & Mary.
The Mountaineers will go for the series sweep tomorrow at 1 PM against Kent State. Kade Strowd, the reigning Big XII Pitcher of the Week, will toe the rubber for WVU in his 3rd start of the season, while John Schreiber will go for the Golden Flashes. You can watch the game here.
Let’s go, Mountaineers!