Shanna Rose I WV Sports Chat
PHOENIX – No. 17 West Virginia evened its series with No. 22 Arizona State in a slugfest on Saturday night, riding an explosive early start to a 13-7 win at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Mountaineers improved to 18-5 overall and 6-2 in Big 12 play, while the Sun Devils dropped to 20-7 and 5-3 in conference.
Starter Maxx Yehl (5-0) turned in another strong performance, allowing three runs over seven innings. He struck out four and did not issue a walk.
Gavin Kelly had three hits and three RBIs, including a home run for WVU. Sean Smith also finished with three hits and three RBIs while Armani Guzman had three hits and crossed the plate three times.
In the first inning, Sean Smith hit an RBI single through the right side, giving the Mountaineers an early 1-0 lead. The Sun Devils quickly answered in the bottom of the frame, tying the game on a throwing error by Kelly.
WVU regained control in the second inning. Tyrus Hall launched a two-run triple that landed between the center and left fielders, and later scored on a wild pitch. Back-to-back singles from Brock Wills and Smith extended the Mountaineers’ lead to 7-1.
WVU added another run in the third to take an 8-1 edge.
Arizona State made it an 8-3 game in the fifth on Landon Hairston’s two-run dinger to deep right field.
The Mountaineers added three insurance runs in the eighth when Kelly hit a two-run blast and Smith added an RBI single to shallow left field, pushing the lead to 11-3. In the ninth, WVU added two more runs on a groundout from Matt Ineich and an infield single by Kelly.
The Sun Devils attempted to rally in the ninth when Matt Polk hit a three-run home run, but redshirt freshman JD Costanzo retired the side to lock up the win.
The two teams meet on Sunday in the rubber match of the series. First pitch is at 8 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2.
Photo credit: WVU Athletics
