CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Ryan Tuntland’s two-run homer gave West Virginia a sixth-inning lead and the Mountaineers piled on five insurance runs in the eighth inning of a 9-3 win over No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday at Appalachian Power Park.
The victory, which came in front of 2,250 fans, evened the series and moved WVU (28-20, 10-7) to within one game of first-place Oklahoma (34-13, 11-6) in the Big 12 standings.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, WVU tied the game on Jacob Rice’s fielder’s choice groundout before Tuntland crushed a two-run home run — his third of the season — over the left-field fence.
The Sooners cut the lead to 4-3 in the top of the seventh, but junior reliever Pascal Paul entered the game with runners on first and second and forced Oklahoma’s Jack Mayfield into a ground out to end the threat.
Ryan McBroom added a two-run home run that carried onto the road behind the left-field fence in the eighth-inning outburst. Bobby Boyd added a two-run single during the inning.
Tuntland and McBroom each had two hits with Tuntland driving in three runs and McBroom plating two, while Taylor Munden finished with three hits. Munden and Tuntland also each scored two runs.
WVU’s Dan Dierdorff (4-5) picked up his second-straight conference victory, allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
Paul picked up his seventh save of the year, with 2 1/3 no-hit innings of relief.
Munden led off the bottom of the first for WVU with a single to left field and came around to score on a ground out to second base by Tuntland, giving the Mountaineers an early 1-0 lead.
Oklahoma tied the game in the top of the fourth and took the lead at 2-1 in the top of the fifth. Anthony Hermelyn drove in Mayfield with a bloop single to right field for the game-tying run and the Sooners took the lead on a sacrifice bunt by Max White that allowed Garrett Carey to score from second after a throwing error by Tuntland.
Craig Aikin went 2-for-4 to lead the Sooners, while Aikin, Mayfield and Carey each scored one run.
Despite retiring 16-consective Mountaineer batters at one point, OUs Jake Fisher (1-2) took the loss. Fisher let up one earned run (four runs) on six hits in 5.2 innings with three strikeouts and one walk.
The series finale is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be video streamed on WVUsports.com, while the radio broadcast will be on select affiliates of the Mountaineer Sports Network, with Morgantown affiliate WAJR 1440 AM serving as the flagship station.