PITTSBURGH — West Virginia took the lead on a two-run suicide squeeze and capitalized on four errors by Pitt in an 8-4 win Tuesday night.
The Mountaineers improved their record to 13-9 while winning their fifth straight at Pitt’s Charles L. Cost Field. The Panthers fell to 11-11.
“I don’t care what the score was, when you say you got a win at Pitt, that’s always a great win for our program,” West Virginia coach Randy Mazey said. “For recruiting, for the fans, for all the people that make up Mountaineer nation, we love to beat Pitt.”
Freshman Isaiah Kearns (3-0) pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings before Kade Strowd, Sam Kessler and Alek Manoah provided solid relief stints.
Kessler’s strikeout preserved a 7-0 lead in the sixth after Tanner Campbell walked the bases-loaded. Kessler then struck out the side in the seventh around a solo homer by Pitt’s Jacob Wright.
The Mountaineers got two hits each from Jackson Cramer and Cole Austin, whose singles set the stage in the fourth.
They stood in scoring position with one out when catcher Ivan Gonzalez dropped a squeeze bunt. With the runners charging, Cramer scored easily and Austin didn’t hesitate rounding third as the throw went to first.
West Virginia broke it open in the fifth inning with five unearned runs, using three hits and three two-out errors.
“We came up here and set the tone pretty early, scoring two runs on a suicide squeeze, taking the lead and throwing four freshmen at them, and they did a really good job,” Mazey said.
“Any time someone makes a bad play on defense, you want to capitalize on it. They did that, and we did. We kept scoring, and kept scoring.”
The Panthers scored three in the ninth against Jackson Sigman to tighten the game.
Pitt freshman Dan Hammer (0-2) lasted five innings and allowed five hits and two earned runs.
“Obviously, we had our opportunities from an offensive perspective and didn’t get the job done,” said Panthers coach Joe Jordano. ” It was a disappointing day for us. West Virginia is a very good team. Coach Mazey does a great job over there and they’re going to be a contender for the Big 12.”