After taking the first two games of the series against Xavier, the No. 24 West Virginia baseball team dropped the finale, Sunday, 8-3. The Mountaineers fall to 18-6 while the Musketeers improve to 11-12.
"We had our opportunities, but left too many people on base," said head coach Randy Mazey. "It felt like someone was going to get a big hit to open it up, but they played great, made all the plays defensively and hit some big home runs."
The Mountaineers had eight hits and walked 10 times but were just 3-for-19 with runners on base, leaving 13 runners on base. Graduate student Dayne Leonard had three hits for WVU while freshman Ellis Garcia added one hit and an RBI.
Xavier only had five hits, but three went over the fence, including a grand slam from Jared Cushing.
The Mountaineers took the early lead in the first as junior Braden Barry walked, stole second, and came home on a single from Leonard.
In the second, the Musketeers loaded the bases without a hit before Cushing belted a grand slam over the left-field fence to put Xavier on top.
WVU got one run back in the third on a single from Garcia, but Xavier's Andrew Walker hit a two-run home run in the fourth. In the home half, Leonard produced his second run-scoring single of the game to get the Mountaineers back to within three.
Xavier added single runs in the sixth and eighth to create more separation.
The Mountaineers had their chances throughout the game as they had at least two runners on in seven of the nine innings but could never find that big hit.
West Virginia will remain at home for midweek game against Marshall on Tuesday before Big 12 play starts next weekend at Kansas State. First pitch against the Thundering Herd is set for 6:30 p.m.
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