NORMAN, Okla. – A pitcher’s duel went scoreless into the 10th inning before West Virginia reliever Blake Smith’s threw away a grounder hit back to the mound allowing Oklahoma to win 1-0 on Friday night.
The Mountaineers (19-17, 5-7 Big 12) and Sooners (19-19-1, 5-8) received stellar pitching by starters Chad Donato and Chris Andritsos before the extra-inning unearned run decided it.
“It’s a classic Friday night at a high-level college baseball game,” said Oklahoma coach Pete Hughes. “We have two really good arms going after each other. Andritsos for us was awesome. As a freshman, he’s a strike-throwing machine. Donato for West Virginia, he’s one of my favorite players in the league. We knew we were going to have our work cut out for us tonight. We knew we were going to have to scratch one late. Lucky we did.”
Donato gave up four hits over eight innings with nine strikeouts and three walks.
Andritsos took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and yielded just two hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.
West Virginia squandered a two-on, nobody-out chance in the top of the 10th, including a failed third-strike bunt attempt, after Sooners reliever Sheldon Neuse (4-1) came on from shortstop.
In the bottom half, Smith (2-1) allowed a leadoff single to Alex Wise but got the next two outs before Wise stole second. Ben Hollas then hit a grounder to Smith, who made a behind-the-back stab to stop the ball. But Smith’s throw to first sailed high to the foul fence, allowing Wise to stroll home with the game-winner.
WVU’s first hit came in the seventh inning when Ivan Vera laced a leadoff single to shallow left field. Two more Mountaineers reached in the inning, but a fielder’s choice and a caught stealing helped Oklahoma get out of it.