Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Behind Ian Korn’s strong performance, No. 15 West Virginia defeated Houston 7-1 on Saturday afternoon at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
Maxx Yehl left in the third inning after a decrease in velocity. He missed last season after having Tommy John surgery. Korn came on in relief and tossed five innings, giving up three hits and one run.
Armani Guzman led the Mountaineers (26-9, 11-6 Big 12) with two hits, two runs scored and two stolen bases. Cade Climie and Blake Fields combined for four of the Cougars’ four hits.
WVU got on the scoreboard in the fifth after Matthew Graveline’s sacrifice bunt scored Armani Guzman from third to take a 1-0 lead. The Mountaineers would have picked up another run but Tyler Cox’s diving stop at short ended the inning.
In the sixth, WVU extended its lead to 4-0. Armani Guzman hit a bunt single, allowing Schoenfeld to score. Then Graveline and Brock Wills each added RBI singles.
Korn ran into trouble in the seventh when Houston (17-20, 4-13) had runners on the corners and nobody out, but the right-hander induced a double play to limit the damage to just one run in the inning.
The Mountaineers tacked on three more runs in the bottom half of the frame. Paul Schoenfeld singled and stole second before scoring on Sean Smith’s base hit. Next Tyrus Hall doubled and Smith and Hall both scored on Brodie Kresser’s single up the middle.
The rubber match between the two teams will be decided on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
