CHARLESTON, S.C. — Sean Carley pitched six scoreless innings in his West Virginia debut only to watch Delaware rattle the bullpen and beat the Mountaineers 3-1 on Saturday night at the Homewood Suites Tournament.
West Virginia, which lost for the second straight day despite outhitting its opponent, tries to salvage a win Sunday against host The Citadel.
A junior transfer from Air Force, Carley allowed just two hits while striking out five without issuing a walk. He left with a 1-0 lead after Taylor Munden led off the sixth inning with a single and came around on a hit by Jacob Rice.
Delaware countered with a three-run seventh—as relievers Zach Bargeron and Ryan Hostrander (0-1) combined to record only one out. The Blue Hens took the lead on Ty Warrington’s two-run double to left center before Jake Clark executed a successful squeeze play against the third reliever, Michael Bennett, who finished the game giving up just one hit in 2.2 innings and striking out three.
The rally made a winner of Delaware starter Dan Gatto (1-0), who scattered nine hits over 6 2/3 innings. The save went to Luke Alicknavitch, who pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
WVU, which left seven on base, stranded runners in scoring position in the seventh and ninth.
The Mountaineers collected 10 hits, two each from Munden and freshmen Shaun Wood and Jackson Cramer.
WVU faces The Citadel at 1 p.m. with junior left-hander John Means making his first start of the season. The Bulldogs have beaten Virginia Tech and Louisville to open the tourney.