Power proves the difference as WVU edges UC

White got West Virginia on the board in the top of the second with a line drive over the rightfield wall to make it 1-0, and King followed one inning later with a shot off the video board in rightcenter to extend the Mountaineer advantage to 2-0.

WVU starter Hayden Cooper worked around walks and hit batters to keep zeroes on the board in the first two innings, but UC touched him in the third with an RBI double to halve the deficit at 2-1. Cooper worked 3 2/3 innings overall while giving up just the one run on four hits, but he also walked three and hit two UC batters, setting something of a precedent for the afternoon.

Hunter Jessee, hitting .242 on the year, gave UC its only lead of the game with a two-run homer off reliever Maxx Yehl in the bottom of the fifth, but the Mountaineers were quick to reply in the top of the sixth, and again it was courtesy of the long ball. Kyle West destroyed a 2-2 pitch for a two-run homer to put WVU back in front, and White followed two batters later with his second solo shot of the day to make it 5-3.

Both teams missed golden chances to score in their next at-bats. UC put two on via a walk and its fourth hit batter of the game in the bottom of the sixth, but the Mountaineers turned an unconventional 3-6 double play with runners on the corners to end the inning. UC runner Christian Mitchelle, running from third, didn’t get to the plate before JJ Wetherholt applied the tag at second, thus putting up zero on the board for the Bearcats.

West Virginia had its own chance before the stretch. Brodie Kresser led off with a walk, but was picked off first on a 3-1 count. That seemed innocuous, but the out was followed by three straight walks, which would have scored a run. Instead, the bases were only loaded, and when Kyle West just missed a grand slam with a fly ball to the fence in left center, UC also remained unscathed.

The Bearcats then put up a run in the seventh after WVU hit its fifth UC batter of the game, followed by a flare RBI single, but the Mountaineers came up with a key defensive play in the last of the eighth to preserve its 5-4 lead.

With two out, Tommy O’Connor tried to go from first to third on a single to right, but WVU’s Ben Lumsden, who has one of, if not the, best arms in the league, delivered a no-hop strike to third. O’Connor beat the throw, but had to go in to the bag so hard that he overslid, allowing WVU’s Reed Chumley to keep the tag on him for the third out.

There was still one more nervous moment to go, but after Carson Estridge walked UC’s leadoff batter in the ninth, he got a pair of flyouts around a grounder to preserve the win for WVU, which is now 28-16 and 15-7 in the Big 12. Cincinnati dropped to 25-21 and 11 in the conference.

White had three of West Virginia’s seven hits. Yehl got the win, even though he gave up the lead and surrendered two earned runs in 2 1/3 innings while plunking two and walking one. Estridge got the save, his third of the year. Seth Logue was tagged with the loss.

The second game of the series is set for 3 p.m. Saturday, and will be a battle of experience vs. impressive youth. WVU lefthanded senior Derek Clark (5-1, 2.72 ERA, 1.09 WHIP) will take the mound against UC freshman righty Nathan Taylor (6-1, 5.68 ERA, 1.59 WHIP).

SEAMS AND BARRELS

Cincinnati left 12 runners on, and had only one inning in which it did not strand at least one. It was just 2-13 with runners in scoring position.

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UC continued to excel at wearing pitches, taking five shots from WVU hurlers to extend its Big 12-leading total to 75.

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The final couple innings of the game were played under a rain which, at times, might have caused a stoppage. There was no question that the umpires wanted to get the game in and avoid a lengthy delay or a resumption on Saturday.