MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Ross Vance was tagged for a leadoff homer but didn’t have to pitch from behind for long.
After West Virginia countered with two runs in the bottom half of the first, Vance shut down Texas Tech in an 8-2 win Friday night that clinched a spot in next week’s Big 12 conference tournament.
Justin Fox, Taylor Munden, Jackson Cramer and KC Huth had two hits apiece and Brad Johnson added a key two-run double for the Mountaineers (27-24, 9-12), who won their third straight Big 12 game to remove all pressure from Saturday’s regular-season finale. Now they will be playing for seeding instead of their postseason lives.
“If this team gets hot at the right time, we’re very capable—as we showed tonight—of scoring a lot of runs against really quality pitching and not giving up too many hits against really quality hitters,” coach Randy Mazey said. “When our back’s against the wall, we come out fighting, which is the sign of a team with a lot of character.”
The Red Raiders (29-22, 12-11) managed only six hits and were 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Vance (7-4), who pitched 7 1/3 innings and allowed only the game-starting home run to Corey Raley, gave up four hits and four walks while striking out four.
“He always settles in,” Mazey said. “I think when we scored the two in the bottom of the first after he gave up a home run, that really allowed him to take a deep breath and take that so-called pressure off of himself.”
Munden’s RBI single tied it in the first before Cameron Smith (6-4) hit Caleb Potter with the bases loaded.
Vance preserved the lead by striking out Tyler Nelsony with two men aboard in the third, and the junior left-hander escaped a one-out bases-loaded jam in the fifth by enticing Nelsony and Eric Gutierrez into fly-outs.
After Smith was lifted in the fifth, Johnson’s double greeted Dominic Moreno to put West Virginia up 4-1. Though Johnson was out trying to stretch it into a triple, Shaun Corso doubled and came around to score on two wild pitches.
Munden made it 6-1 in the sixth with an RBI single.
West Virginia scored two more in the seventh—Johnson on a passed ball after leading off the inning with a walk, and Huth singling home Corso, who reached on an error.
Texas Tech left 13 runners on base and didn’t score again until the ninth when reliever Jeff Hardy allowed two hits preceding a Nelsony’s RBI ground-out.
The series finale is slated for Saturday at 1 p.m., with Fox, Johnson and Munden scheduled to be honored for Senior Day. West Virginia can finish anywhere from fifth to eighth in the league standings.