MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Kansas won a battle of the bullpens Sunday, pulling away late for a 7-2 win that denied West Virginia a weekend sweep.
The Mountaineers (19-11, 6-3 Big 12) saw their six-game winning streak snapped yet remained tied for second in the league with Texas Tech, which blew a five-run ninth-inning lead in a 10-9 loss to Baylor.
Kansas (14-17, 4-5) was outscored 18-1 in the series’ first two games before improving to 3-0 on Sundays in Big 12 play.
This time it was Jayhawks reliever Blake Weiman (1-0) making the difference. His 3 1/3 scoreless innings included a two-on strikeout of Jackson Cramer — one of four whiffs for West Virginia’s RBI leader — that preserved a 2-2 tie in the fifth.
“Our guy Weiman was absolutely special – that was the key to the ballgame,” said Kansas coach Ritch Price. “He came in and shut down those left-handers with runners on base and put up zeroes until we could manage to score again.”
Held to a combined six hits on Friday and Saturday, the Jayhawks collected 15 on Sunday, including reserve catcher Tanner Gragg’s tie-breaking homer off Sam Kessler (0-1) in the seventh.
Darius Hill’s two-run homer was it for the Mountaineers, who trailed for the first time in the series when Gragg’s RBI single put Kansas up 1-0 in the second.
The Jayhawks led 2-0 after Rudy Karre led off the third with a double and scored on Matt McLaughlin’s groundout.
Hill tied it the fourth, yanking Ryan Zeferjahn’s thigh-high fastball into the WVU bullpen.
Kessler struck out four in 2 1/3 innings of mostly sharp relief, undone only by the pitch he left over the plate to Gragg, who sent his first homer of the season over the left-field fence.
Jackson Sigman followed Kessler and allowed four runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings. The damage included Devin Foyle’s seventh-inning RBI single that made it 4-2, before the Jayhawks piled on three more in the ninth.
Kansas closer Stephen Villines finished off WVU with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.
“They’ve got pitching depth and we’re still trying to find ours,” said Mountaineers coach Randy Mazey.
West Virginia’s Kade Strowd, making his second career start since the Conner Dotson suffered a season-ending broken arm, pitched 3 2/3 innings and surrendered two runs on five hits.
He left after a two-out single in the fourth, having thrown 69 pitches.
“We had a fresh bullpen,” Mazey said. “We still had several guys who hadn’t pitched on the weekend.”
The freshman Zeferjahn, who entered with a 5.74 ERA, lasted 4 2/3 for Kansas, yielding three hits and two runs while fanning eight — one off his season high.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the job Zeferjahn did for us,” Price said. “We needed a big performance from him today and he got us into the fifth inning.”
The Mountaineers face a crucial week with Tuesday’s visit to Maryland (20-10) before starting a three-game series against TCU (26-5) on Friday. The Terps are 33rd in the RPI, while the Frogs rank ninth.
“We feel good about the week we had, going 4-1,” Mazey said. “We’re in good shape. If we can continue to stay motivated and grind, I think we’ll feel good about where we are.”