COLUMBUS, Ohio — West Virginia allowed eight unearned runs in a 9-0 loss at Ohio State on Tuesday night.
The Mountaineers (17-16) committed five errors, garnered only four hits and suffered their third straight loss, a stretch in which they have been outscored 28-1.
Senior right-hander Dan Dierdorff (1-4) delivered his second consecutive quality start, allowing three runs, all unearned, on five hits in five innings. He struck out five with two walks.
Two errors on failed pickoffs — one mishandled by first baseman Ryan McBroom, the other booted by shortstop Justin Fox — allowed Ohio State’s Joe Ciamacco to reach third base with no outs after leading off the bottom of the first with a single. Ciamacco scored on a single to left field by Ryan Cypret.
In the second inning, Tim Wetzel’s two-out foul ball was dropped by WVU left fielder Jacob Rice. Wetzel eventually walked, took second on Troy Kuhn’s single and scored on Ciamacco’s hit. During the ensuing rundown, Kuhn scored from third to make it 3-0.
Two more errors in the bottom of the eighth — another by Fox and an errant throw by reliever Ryan Hostrander — fueled a six-run inning for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State (20-10) got a tidy performance from starter Brett McKinney (3-3), who was near perfect in five innings, allowing one hit with six strikeouts and one walk.
WVU returns to Hawley Field on Wednesday to host Youngstown State at 6 p.m.