Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Dawson Montesa left it all on the field as No. 1-seed West Virginia used a six-run sixth to defeat Wake Forest 10-5 Sunday afternoon in the Morgantown Regional.
Montesa (4-5) pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on four hits while striking out seven for the Mountaineers (41-15).
Sean Smith had three hits and two RBIs and Gavin Kelly had two hits and an RBI.
Troy Dressler (8-2) suffered the loss for the No. 2 seed Demon Deacons (39-21). He pitched five innings and gave up six runs on nine hits.
WVU got on the scoreboard first in the second when Sean Smith scored on a wild pitch. A base hit from Tyrus Hall and a fielding error by Wake Forest’s Luke Costello gave the Mountaineers a 3-0 lead.
In the third, the Demon Deacons cut the deficit to 3-1, and in the fourth tied it 3-3 on Matt Conte’s two-run home run.
WVU took a 4-3 lead in the fifth, but the Mountaineers exploded for six runs in the sixth to take a 10-3 lead. Matt Ineich scored on a double by Ben Lumsden. Armani Guzman singled to right field, plating Brodie Kresser. A single from Kelly and a sacrifice fly from Paul Schoenfeld tacked on two more runs. WVU picked up another run when Guzman scored on a failed pick-off attempt before Kelly scored on Smith’s double.
Andrew Costello homered in the seventh to pull Wake Forest within 10-4.
In the eighth, Montesa gave up a one-out double, leading the Mountaineers to make a pitching change. The starter got a curtain call as the fans chanted his name. Bassinger came in and a fielding error led to another run for the Demon Deacons.
Bassinger closed out the ninth, securing WVU’s position in the Morgantown Regional Championship at 5 p.m. in a rematch against No. 3 seed Kentucky.
Photo Credit: Shanna Rose
