West Virginia University extended its baseball season on June 1 with victories over Wake Forest and Kentucky, totaling 23 hits and 21 runs during a long day of postseason play in Morgantown. The Mountaineers first defeated Wake Forest 10-5 in an elimination game, led by starting pitcher Dawson Montesa, who pitched 7 1/3 innings.
In the nightcap against Kentucky, Ben McDougal from Bridgeport played a key role in West Virginia’s come-from-behind 11-9 victory. McDougal entered the game in the fifth inning with his team trailing and struck out two batters to end a potential rally. He continued pitching into the eighth inning, overcoming back-to-back home runs allowed in the seventh but keeping West Virginia within reach for their comeback.
“There was a little bit of frustration because, personally, I think if I don’t fall deep into those counts, those home runs aren’t hit,” McDougal said afterward of his two mistakes. “So, I just tried to reset and tried to tell myself to attack early on.”
West Virginia tied the game in the ninth after a balk by Kentucky reliever Oliver Boone allowed Tyrus Hall to score. Paul Schoenfeld then hit a home run that brought in two more runs for an 11-9 lead. “I got a lot of spin on the ball. I’ve only hit four of them this year,” Schoenfeld joked.
Coach Steve Sabins said he had planned for McDougal to pitch several innings if needed: “We were keeping McDougal on the back end the whole time because we thought if everything went our way, he could throw five or six innings, because we’ve seen him do that.” Sabins added about leaving him in for the final outs, “We were laughing because we had other guys in the pen warming up (to get the final out), but I’m like, ‘Am I going to go get McDougal out of this game with two outs in the ninth? This is McDougal’s game,’ … I’m really glad that he finished that game.”