MVP Banditos and Orioles Scout Team grad LHP Adam Tulloch (Toronto, Ont.) struck out seven in his three innings of work facing Coastal Carolina.

Mountaineers Fall Short in Series Finale vs. Coastal

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team dropped a 9-6 ballgame to Coastal Carolina on Sunday afternoon at Monongalia County Ballpark.

In the rubber match of the three-game weekend series in Morgantown, the Mountaineers loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning but were unable to produce a late rally. WVU finished with six runs on nine hits with an error, while Coastal tallied nine runs on five hits with an error.

WVU led, 4-1, at one point, before a six-run fifth by the Chanticleers shifted the contest. CCU’s Keaton Hopwood earned the win, while freshman right-handed pitcher Carlson Reed took the loss for West Virginia.

“Today’s game got away because we didn’t handle the ball,” WVU assistant coach Steve Sabins said. “I told the team that we went 3-2 on the week and kind of stole a game on Saturday but gave away a game today. So, it probably ended up exactly where we were supposed to be.”

Coastal Carolina (12-6) played from in front early again on Sunday, scoring a run in the top of the first off junior left-handed pitcher Adam Tulloch (Toronto, Ont.). From there, WVU (8-7) quickly grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second with senior infielder Tyler Doanes’ two-run double to left centre. A crowd of 600 was on hand including John Reed, son of legendary Leaside C Buck Reed.

Then, in the fourth, fifth-year senior infielder Kevin Brophy smashed a two-run homer to right, extending West Virginia’s lead to 4-1. The long ball marked the Randolph, N.J., native’s fourth of the year.

Coastal’s big inning came in the fifth when the visitors plated six runs to take a 7-4 lead. The Chanticleers took advantage of a Mountaineer throwing error, before tallying a sacrifice fly, two-run single, RBI triple and an RBI single to close out the frame.

In the seventh, CCU added two more runs, stretching its lead to five at 9-4.

Later, WVU attempted to set up a big comeback, scoring a run in the eighth off a fielder’s choice, before grabbing another run in the ninth, thanks to fifth-year senior first baseman/outfielder Hudson Byorick’s RBI single up the middle, which followed a triple off the bat of sophomore outfielder Victor Scott from earlier in the inning.

West Virginia ended up loading the bases in the frame and brought the winning run to the plate with two outs. Moments later, however, Coastal was able to close the game with a strikeout.

Freshman infielder Mikey Kluska finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored in the setback, while Doanes tallied three RBI. Byorick went 2-for-3, while Brophy’s home run netted him two RBI on the day.

On the mound, Tulloch notched seven strikeouts in three innings, allowing a run on no hits. A total of six Mountaineer relievers entered Sunday’s affair, including sophomore right-hander Tim Wynia, who retired all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth.