GRANVILLE, W.Va. — While winning 19 of their first 21 games this season, the Mountaineers have either been on the good side of many lopsided scores or they found the key hit or the key shutdown inning from their bullpen to secure victories.
In the rubber game of their three-game series Sunday against Arizona, WVU could not get timely outs in relief as the Mountaineers fell to the Wildcats, 11-4. The Mountaineers (19-3, 2-2 Big 12) lost their first series of the year.
“I think it is the first time ever that maybe we have experienced a little bit of adversity or things hadn’t gone our way,” said WVU head coach Steve Sabins. “We had bases loaded multiple times and hit some balls really hard. We had a chance for a grand slam in the first, [Michael] Perazza line drive double play.”
“It is a long season. Just taking everything with a grain of salt, trying to win every pitch by pitch,” said WVU senior Kyle West. “Eventually win enough pitches and you will win innings and you’ll win games. That being said, the Big 12 is a tough conference. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. It has been proven. Just stay present in each moment and you’ll give yourself a chance to win.”
West Virginia fell behind 3-0 in the third inning after starting pitcher Carson Estridge surrendered a solo home run to Adonys Garcia in the second inning and a two-run homer to Maddox Mihalakis in the third. After Garcia’s home run, both teams were warned by umpires after crosstalk between the two dugouts.
“I wasn’t a huge fan. I think something had gone on in the first or second inning where there was a little bit of back-and-forth. After Adonis Guzman hit the home run, he stood there for a little while and then I think talked on his way around the bases. So our guys kind of chirped back a little bit. I thought it was instigated by Arizona today,” Sabins said.
“But I think both teams were passionate in a rubber match and an opportunity to win the game. I wasn’t too worried about it. I just thought in that moment, I didn’t believe that we should probably have received a warning just because it was clearly one side. But I think early in the game, we had chirped at Arizona a little bit. So you can’t blame the umpires ever. They were doing basically their best job to make sure the game doesn’t get out of hand.”
The Mountaineers gained the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Sam White’s two-run home run in the third inning and Jace Rinehart’s two-run double in the fourth put the Mountaineers ahead 4-3.
“If I think about the moment and how big it is too much, I think it gets to me. So every time I go up to the plate, I do the same thing I do every time,” Rinehart said.
While White’s home run put the Mountaineers on the scoreboard, he did not return to the game in the fourth inning and was seen wearing a sling. Sabins did not have an immediate medical update on White following the game.
“He’s a huge part of our locker room and our morale,” West said. “Obviously, he plays a huge role at second base and hitting third every day. From a locker room standpoint, I think us as a team, we’ll do everything we can to make sure he stays up and he’s with us all the time.”
Catcher Logan Sauve did not play a day after he was injured in game two of the series.
“Yesterday he dove at home plate and landed on his shoulder. It was really tender this morning,” Sabins said. “We checked in it see if he could potentially play today and we didn’t think it was a good idea to put him in there today.”
Estridge left the game with the lead after pitching five innings. He allowed three runs and struck out six batters.
“It just was competitive the whole time,” Sabins said. “He gave us a chance to win the game.”
Leading 4-3 in the top of the eighth inning, Mason White’s two-run home run gave Arizona (18-5, 5-1 Big 12) a lead they would not relinquish. Arizona scored four more runs in the eighth and two in the ninth inning to close the game with eight unanswered runs.
WVU’s bullpen, shortened by a 16-inning game on Friday night, cycled through eight pitchers in the final four innings.
“Big impact, it changes what we do. But everyone we threw today is good enough to win the ball game. It just didn’t go our way,” Sabins said.
“I just felt like this whole weekend, it was right within our grasp. Friday, obviously we played 16 innings. We had a lot of opportunities, guys on third and less than two out. You had some men in scoring position Friday. A big win on Saturday and then we can’t quite close the deal on Sunday.”
Tyler Hutson fell to 1-1 on the season with the loss. He surrendered Mason White’s home run in the eighth inning.
Garcia went 3-for-5 with two home runs for Arizona.
West Virginia will host Marshall Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
