Shanna Rose I WV Sports Chat
PHOENIX – No. 17 West Virginia delivered on a national stage Sunday night, taking down No. 22 Arizona State 9-5 to secure a ranked Big 12 series victory at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Landon Hairston picked up his fourth home run of the series for the Sun Devils (20-8, 5-4 Big 12), finishing the weekend with seven hits and 11 RBIs against Mountaineer pitchers.
Tyrus Hall, Matt Ineich, Gavin Kelly, Brock Wills and Paul Schoenfeld each had two hits for WVU (19-5, 7-2).
Chansen Cole earned his fourth win of the season. The sophomore right-hander ran into trouble early but redeemed himself for a solid outing, tossing 5 1/3 innings and giving up one run on five hits. David Perez picked up his sixth save after pitching 3 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs on four hits.
Arizona State struck first in the opening inning when Hairston crushed the ball over the center field wall to make it a 1-0 game.
In the sixth, the Mountaineers strung together back-to-back singles by Tyrus Hall and Matt Inech before Paul Schoenfeld worked a walk. With the bases loaded, Sean Smith homered to right field, giving WVU a 4-1 lead.
Cole got into trouble in the bottom of the frame, after a base hit and a walk set things in motion for the Sun Devils. Freshman phenom Perez came in and recorded two outs to escape the threat.
The Mountaineers extended their lead to 5-1 in the seventh when Ineich’s base hit plated Armani Guzman from first.
Arizona State cut the deficit to 5–2 in the seventh on a wild pitch. A walk and a double left Perez in a jam, and Dean Toigo scored on the passed ball. Perez limited the damage, getting a groundout to end the inning and strand the remaining runner.
In the eighth, Matthew Graveline stole home to give WVU an insurance run and extend the lead to 6-2.
In the ninth, the Mountaineers tacked on three additional runs on a double by Schoenfeld and two-run single by Wills.
The Sun Devils attempted to rally in the ninth when Toigo hit a three-run home run but Perez got Nuu Contrades to ground out to end the game.
WVU travels to Tucson for a midweek non-conference matchup with Arizona on Tuesday. First pitch from Hi Corbett Field is set for 9 p.m. ET.
