Penn State baseball (21-21, 7-11 Big 10) fell to West Virginia (29-18, 15-9 Big 12) as the team traveled to Morgantown for a midweek matchup with the Mountaineers.
Mason Butash recorded just one out in the first inning after the right-hander surrendered two home runs, one of being was a grand slamm, as the Mountaineers scored eight runs in the opening inning of the night. Aside from putting together a seven-run third inning, the huge deficit early kept the Penn State bats from getting going.
How It Happened
Joe Jaconski led off the game with a walk after the first baseman worked the count full, advancing to second after JT Marr grounded out to first base and the throw to second base to double up Jaconski sailed into left field. Adam Cecere worked a walk to give the Nittany Lions runners on first and second with one out, but West Virginia starter Chase Meyer rebounded to strike out the next two batters and end the Penn State threat.
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The Mountaineers jumped on Butash early, with Logan Sauve launching the first pitch he saw over the center field fence for a home run that gave West Virginia the first run of the ballgame. Followed up by a single and a pair of walks, the Mountaineers were set up with bases loaded and no outs.
With Butash already on the ropes, Sam White roped a 1-0 fastball down the left field line for a two-run single that extended the West Virginia lead to 3-0. After issuing a walk to Grant Hussey, Butash left a fastball down the middle of the plate that was quickly deposited over the center field fence by Brodie Kresser for a grand slam. The homer gave West Virginia a 7-0 lead before Butash recorded an out.
Head coach Mike Gambino had finally seen enough from his starter as he called upon Ben DeMell to get the final two outs of the inning after Butash had recorded his first out. DeMell was greeted similarly to Butash as he surrendered a solo home run to the nine-hitter Skylar King, extending the West Virginia lead to eight. JJ Wetherholt roped a double into the left field gap with two outs but advanced no further, as DeMell recorded the final out of the inning.
Bryce Molinaro ripped a single to lead off the second inning as Penn State tried to get back into the game and stole second later in the inning to put himself in scoring position with two outs. After Kevin Michaels worked a walk to give Penn State two runners on, Meyer forced Jaconski to fly out to left field and once again escape trouble.
West Virginia picked up right where it left off in the second inning as Reed Chumley sent a fastball off of the scoreboard in left field for a solo home run, which was followed up by a White home run to right field, extending the Mountaineers lead to 10 in just the second inning. After DeMell surrendered a single and double with one out in the inning, Gambino once again went to his bullpen and called upon Will Perkowski to record some outs.
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Bucking the trend of immediately giving up a home run after entering the game, Perkowski forced King to fly out to center, but a runner scored from third and once again extended the West Virginia lead. Seeing his third pitcher of the game, Sauve lined an RBI single into center and gave the Mountaineers a 12-0 lead. Perkowski escaped after this as the right-hander got Wetherholt to ground out to second.
Marr worked a walk and was moved to third by a single from Grant Norris to lead off the third inning for the Nittany Lions. Penn State finally broke through thanks to a Bobby Marsh single that scored Marr, and a Molinaro walk loaded the bases with one out in the inning.
After retiring Maloney with a nice breaking ball for the second out of the inning, Meyer allowed a two-run single to Tayven Kelley that cut the West Virginia lead to 12-3. This single chased the Mountaineers’ starter from the game with Bryce Amos tasked with keeping the Nittany Lions at bay.
Amos’ first pitch found the backstop, allowing Molinaro to score and Kelley to advance to second. After Michaels worked a walk, Jaconski ripped a double into the right field gap that scored two and further chipped away the West Virginia lead, this time to 12-6. Continuing the offensive onslaught for the Nittany Lions, Marr lined an RBI single to center and widdled the Mountaineers lead to five.
With Amos unable to record an out, Randy Mazey called on Maxx Yehl to work West Virginia out of trouble and the left-hander did just that, forcing Adam Cecere to roll over for the final out. Perkowski continued to find success for Penn State, recording two outs before Gambino called on David Lee to finish the inning. Lee appeared to work out of the inning as he forced Hussey to hit a mile-high popup to center, but miscommunication between Norris and Kelley allowed the ball to fall in for a hit and score Chumley from second. Things went from bad to worse for Lee as Kresser lined an RBI single to left field to extend the West Virginia lead back to seven.
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Ben Lumsden scorched a ball into center that scored Kresser and ballooned the Mountaineers’ lead to eight. After allowing three straight hits, Lee managed to escape the inning as King grounded out to first.
As Penn State looked to get some runs back in the top of the fourth inning, Mollinaro and Maloney ripped two-out singles to set up Kelley with two runners on. Yehl settled down, however, and forced Kelley to ground out to first and escape the inning without allowing a run.
Wetherholt continued the fireworks for West Virginia, as the star infielder launched a solo home run to right field that traveled 439 feet and was hit 109 miles per hour. As Lee struggled, Matt Morash came on in relief and stuck out Chumley to end the inning as Penn State continued to trail 16-7.
Tommy Beam took the mound to begin the fifth inning for the Mountaineers and worked a scoreless inning. West Virginia tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to a two-run triple off the bat of Ellis Garcia. Norris led off the sixth inning with a single but was doubled off as Beam recorded another zero on the mound.
The impossible happened for Penn State as pitcher James Lordi entered the game and held the Mountaineers scoreless for the first time all night. With Penn State three outs away from losing due to the seventh-inning 10-run rule, the Nittany Lions went down with little resistance to end the game.
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Takeaways
The Penn State pitching staff has been less than spectacular throughout its season and showed as such against an outstanding West Virginia team. Butash recorded just one out before being pulled and Perkowski was the only pitcher who found consistent success for the Nittany Lions. To make matters worse, Penn State surrendered six home runs in the first four innings, one of which was a grand slam.
Anytime a team goes down 12-0 in the second inning, it’s nearly impossible to come back and win that game. Penn State showed some fight in the third inning by scoring seven runs to get the deficit under 10, but it was going take a lot more than that to win with West Virginia swinging the bats as well as they were.
West Virginia is one of the premier programs in college baseball, and a Penn State win would have been a massive upset. With a star-studded roster highlighted by a future first-round pick in Wetherholt, the Mountaineers look primed for a deep postseason run.
What’s Next?
Penn State baseball will return to Happy Valley for its final home series of the year against Rutgers, with game one taking place at 5:30 on Friday, May 10. The game can be streamed on BTN+.
Dennis is a third-year journalism major from Brick, New Jersey. He has a love-hate relationship with every team he roots for, especially the New York Giants. When he’s not watching Jack Hughes highlights, he can be found playing golf or listening to music. Direct all complaints to him via email ([email protected]) or on Twitter (@denniswilkins27).
Trump says soaring college football costs are hitting sports
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday (March 6) said the soaring cost of paying for football at colleges was harming school sports in general and the problem would need to be addressed by legislation, adding he might sign an executive order about it.
West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez called for major college football to reorganize into regional divisions.
He proposed about 60 teams should pool their television revenue and share it.
His comments came as Congress considers a bill to allow the pooling of TV rights among schools.
FRISCO, TX − West Virginia football coach Rich Rodriguez made a public plea for some reason and logic to return to major college football after decades of conference expansion, contraction and realignment from coast to coast.
He made his pitch at his news conference at the annual Big 12 Conference media days here Wednesday, July 8. Rodriguez proposes about 60 teams to come together, share their money and divide themselves into regional sections, sort of like how college football used to be with the former Big East, Pac-12, Big 12, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Conferences.
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“Can’t we all come together and shake hands and give each other a group hug and then have an Eastern regional and a South regional and a North regional, and then everybody share the money?” Rodriguez said. “And, you know, with this money for everybody, we all can get along, like 60 of us or so. I think that would be great. I don’t know. Did anybody else say that? Probably not. They might be afraid. Hell, I don’t care.”
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Rodriguez, 63, made his comments in the context of his team not playing rival Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl again until 2029. They used to play regularly as independents and then members of the Big East before Pitt left to join the ACC in 2013. Since then, realignment has ripped apart regional leagues such as the Pac-12, which saw four marquee West Coast teams depart in 2024 to pursue more money in the Big Ten while others left for the Big 12 and ACC.
Meanwhile, Congress is considering a bill, the Protect College Sports Act, that would allow the pooling of television rights between more than 100 schools. It aims to spread the wealth more beyond just two dominant leagues.
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“I’m not speaking for anybody other than Coach Rod, that he would love for all the Power Four teams to come together, shake hands, and then, hey, let’s pick the biggest TV package in the history of TV packages,” Rodriguez said. “And then we could have Pitt, Virginia Tech and Penn State and Maryland and Cincinnati and maybe Virginia or North Carolina, one of those, all right there. And our fans could drive to it. You know, we have a rivalry every year, and everybody makes money. Nobody gets fired. Players did good.”
Rodriguez noted his pitch might not fly in today’s world but wanted to throw it out there before it’s too late. He previously served as head coach at Michigan and Arizona.
“Wouldn’t that be fun?” he asked. “Can we put that together? I got all the (athletic directors) out there shaking their head like I’m nuts. I’m just, I mean, this is, you know, I got more time, a lot more time behind me than ahead of me. I want to just get this thing right before I leave.”
A tiny West Virginia town has been left without a police department after every officer was fired following a dispute over an apparent break-in at the department’s evidence room.
The Barrackville Police Department announced in a Facebook post Tuesday that, effective immediately, every member of the department had been relieved of duty by the Barrackville Town Council and Mayor Tom Straight.
A former sergeant, identified only as Sgt. Hunt, told 12 News he arrived at the department Tuesday morning and found the evidence room had been broken into.
Barrackville, W.Va., was left without a police department after the town relieved every officer of duty. Barrackville Police Department / Facebook
Hunt said he immediately called a meeting with Straight and the town council.
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According to Hunt, council members had previously said they wanted to inventory the department without any officers present.
He also claimed a council member admitted to taking a set of police keys.
After accusing members of the town government of breaking into the evidence room, Hunt said he and the department’s only other officer were immediately removed from active duty.
Hunt said the department’s police clerk also resigned, leaving the town with no police staff. He said he informed the mayor and council that he would be seeking whistleblower protection.
The mass firing came less than a week after Barrackville Police Chief Zachary Freeburn resigned. Hunt said the chief quit over what he described as repeated clashes with the town council over how much control it had over the department.
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Former Barrackville Police Chief Zachary Freeburn resigned before the town’s entire police department was fired. Barrackville Police Department / Facebook
Marion County Sheriff Roger Cunningham told the station that deputies will continue responding to calls in Barrackville while the town of 1,288 people is without a police department.
Resident Isabella Pham said she hopes the turmoil comes to an end.
“I just think that the town right now is in a little bit of a mess,” Pham told the West Virginian Times.
“We’ve gone through a lot of different people, and I’m just hoping that at the end of this, we can get a little bit of stability, transparency and security, and get back to having a stronger community versus a town of pitchforks and torches.”
CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Governor Patrick Morrisey has appointed a new member of the state House of Delegates.
Shane Thomas Stack, of Triadelphia, was appointed Tuesday to represent District 4. Stack replaces former Delegate Bill Flanigan who resigned to join the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia following his election to the Division 2 seat.
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“Shane Stack is an outstanding choice to represent the families and communities of the fourth district,” Morrisey said in a release. “With his deep roots in the local community, his background as a business owner, and his proven experience managing municipal finances, Shane understands what it takes to support economic growth and advocate for working West Virginians. He will serve his constituents well in Charleston.”
In Morrisey’s release, it said that Stack has a diverse background in small business ownership, municipal finance, and higher education administration. Stack currently is the owner, licensed auctioneer, and certified appraiser for Frio Stack & Associates, as well as the owner of Island Pawn & Gun.
Stack previously worked as the Town Treasurer for West Liberty.
He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a specialization in General Business from West Liberty University.
