By: Shanna Rose
MANHATTAN, Kan.- West Virginia’s bullpen continues to struggle as they blew a late-game lead for the third time this week as the Mountaineers fell 14-9 to Kansas State on Sunday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium.
WVU (40-10, 19-6 Big 12) still needs one win to clinch the Big 12 title.
Reese Bassinger and Carson Estridge were involved in all three blown games and Bassinger was cruising until the eighth inning when he ran into trouble. He hit the first batter of the inning and then gave up a double. With runners on second and third, Estridge came on in relief.
He gave up back-to-back singles to give the Wildcats (30-21, 16-11) a 9-8 lead. With one out, Estridge walked the next batter to load the bases before giving up another single, making it a 10-8 game.
Seth Dardar then hit a grand slam to left field, giving Kansas State a 14-8 advantage.
In the top of the second, the Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead when Chase Swain’s sacrifice fly scored Jace Rinehart.
Logan Sauve doubled down the left field line in the third to make it a 3-0 contest. However, Kansas State scored two in the bottom of the frame to pull within one.
The Wildcats added two in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 7-3 lead before WVU added two in the sixth.
Trailing 7-5, Sam White hit a three-run home run in the seventh to push WVU back in front 8-7.
Jack Kartsonas has been one of the Mountaineers’ most reliable pitchers, but he struggled on Sunday afternoon. He surrendered four runs on eight hits in four innings.
White had three hits and three RBI. Swain had two hits and three RBI while Suave had two hits and drove in two runs.
WVU returns home on Thursday, May 15, to begin a three-game series against Kansas to close out the regular season.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
