WVU pulls off rally for the ages
GRANVILLE, W.Va. — West Virginia needed some help.
The host Mountaineers seemed just about dead in the water as the top of ninth inning rolled around at Kendrick Family Ballpark on Sunday evening and Kentucky holding a 9-6 lead at the NCAA Morgantown Regional.
WVU had already lost to the Wildcats the previous day and, following a win over Wake Forest on Sunday afternoon, it needed to turn the tables on Kentucky in their second meeting to force a deciding game on Monday.
What transpired next was a baseball comeback for the ages, a five-run West Virginia rally that led to a stunning 11-9 victory.
The biggest, obvious hero was Paul Schoenfeld whose two-run homer capped the miraculous uprising that extended West Virginia’s season at least one more day.
This wasn’t a one-player show, however. There were subplots, culprits on the Kentucky side and other Mountaineers who stepped up when needed.
The wild finish set up a winner-take-all third meeting between the two that was slated to be played Monday evening with not only a berth in the NCAA Super Regionals on the line but the right to host it.
Even if WVU falls in the deciding game, it’s unlikely anyone who was there on Sunday evening will ever forget what they witnessed.
How did it happen?
As stated earlier, the way the game was playing out, West Virginia likely needed some help from Kentucky to pull out a victory, and the Wildcats obliged.
The game started out very upbeat for the Mountaineers. They took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and then, after Kentucky pulled even, they surged back in front with three more in the third inning.
The Wildcats took control at that point, scoring once in the third and three times in the fourth for a 7-6 advantage.
West Virginia’s bats had gone silent after the third inning, mounting just one threat before the ninth that wound up sucking most of the life out of the crowd when it was wasted.
Schoenfeld had doubled to deep right leading off the sixth and Sean Smith drew a walk, prompting Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione to call on reliever Nile Adcock. After Matthew Graveline’s sacrifice bunt, Adcock walked Matt Ineich to load the bases. The Mountaineer fans were left deflated when Adcock struck out Brodie Kresser swinging and Ben Lumsden looking to squelch the theat.
The situation looked grave for WVU after Jayce Tharnish and Tyler Bell hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh to up the Wildcats’ lead to 9-6. It was Bell’s second home run of the game.
Adcock had allowed one hit and one walk with five strikeouts in twirling 2 2/3 scoreless innings through the eighth inning.
Then came the ninth.
The wild comeback started innocently enough with Kresser hitting a routine ground ball to third baseman Caeden Cloud. A day earlier, also in the ninth, Cloud had given WVU life with a two-out error that scored a run and brought the tying run to the plate, although Zahir Barjam flied out to end the Wildcats’ 11-9 win.
On Sunday, Kresser’s grounder went through Cloud’s legs for another error. This time, the never-say-die Mountaineers turned the miscue into a game-turning rally.
Lumsden drew a walk on a close 3-2 pitch and Tyrus Hall singled to left to load the bases. Mingione then went to his bullpen to call on the second of four pitchers Kentucky would use in the inning, ending Adcock’s night.
Enter left-hander Jackson Soucie whose appearance was short and ineffective with a four-pitch walk to lefty-hitting Armani Guzman to force in a run and bump the tying run in Hall to second base.
Out came Mingione again, who sent Soucie to the showers and turned to right-hander Oliver Boone, whose last appearance was 30 days ago on May 1.
That decision proved to be disastrous.
With nobody out and the bases still loaded, West Virginia’s best player, Gavin Kelly, stepped up with a chance to redeem himself after striking out with a runner on base in his previous two at bats.
Kelly came through this time with a sacrifice fly to right-center that scored Lumsden and advanced the tying run to third as Hall alertly tagged up also on the play.
The ballpark was rocking now as the boisterous Mountaineer fans amped their volume up another level.
The flustered Boone then inexplicably faked a throw to first base. The crowd erupted with calls of “Balk!, Balk!” as fans often do, usually incorrectly, but this time multiple umpires, including the one stationed at first base, accurately agreed with them. That sent Hall trotting home with the tying run and pushed Guzman, the go-ahead run, into scoring position at second base.
Things got much worse for Boone two pitches later.
Left-handed hitter Schoenfeld took a ball, then drilled the next offering to deep right. At first it seemed the ball might hook foul but it straightened out and cleared the right-field fence for a go-ahead two-run homer.
WVU reliever Reese Bassinger gathered in the ball and started jumping for joy with the rest of the bullpen as the entire ballpark literally exploded.
The scoreboard now read West Virginia 11, Kentucky 9.
That was all for Boone as Mingione strolled out to make his third pitching change of the inning.
Tristan Hunter came on to retire the next two batters but it was too late at this point for the Wildcats.
It should be noted that Mingione had his top starting pitcher, Jaxon Jelkin, warming up in the bullpen in the ninth inning but opted not to use him, likely saving him to start Monday’s game if needed. Jelkin threw 98 pitches and got a no-decision in Kentucky’s 6-5 win over Wake Forest on Friday.
The game wasn’t over after the Mountaineers’ remarkable rally. There were still three more outs to get with WVU playing as the away team. That left room for one more West Virginia hero.
Ben McDougal was on for his fifth inning of relief for West Virginia. He had pitched only 6 1/3 innings total during the regular season.
WVU head coach Steve Sabins had gone through David Hagen (three runs allowed, one earned, in two innings), Joshua Surigao (one run, 1/3 inning) and Carson Estridge (three runs in 1 2/3 innings) in the first four innings before settling on McDougal. He wasn’t about to take him out now despite the overly long outing.
McDougal did allow the two home runs in the seventh but the left-hander kept his team in the game and there he was strolling out to the mound for the ninth as WVU fans held their breath.
McDougal got a called strike three and a pop out before Owen Jenkins singled. That brought Tharnish with Bell on deck, a duo that had combined to go 5 for 9 with three home runs.
Tharnish took three straight balls before McDougal found the strike zone. On the critical 3-1 pitch, Tharnish stroked a fly ball into right center but Schoenfeld, fittingly, was there to track it down and make the catch for the final out.
The Mountaineers celebrated on the infield and the 4,184 fans among the standing-room-only crowd roared their approval.
An instant classic.
And an unforgettable moment in WVU sports history.
Rob Burchianti is sports editor of the 缅北禁地 and can be reached at rburchianti@heraldstandard.com