MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia had the series wrapped up, but Caleb Kilian made sure No. 15 Texas Tech didn’t leave empty-handed.
The 6-foot-4 righthander retired the final 19 batters in a two-hitter as the Red Raiders won 3-0 on Sunday to avoid a weekend sweep.
At the midpoint of the Big 12 race, West Virginia (22-13, 6-6) and Texas Tech (23-11, 6-6) are tied for fifth-place in the conference but own the league’s only top-20 RPIs.
After a three-hour rain delay, the junior Kilian (5-2) fanned eight, walked none and needed only 94 pitches for his career complete game. He entered with a 5.59 ERA but surrendered only two runners — Darius Hill’s infield single in the first inning and Tyler Doanes’ hit up the middle in the third.
West Virginia starter Kade Strowd (4-3), coming off back-to-back wins over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, continued his pattern of creating jams and escaping them.
He foiled Texas Tech’s bases-loaded threat in the first by coaxing a check-swing grounder from Dylan Neuse. Two more runners were stranded in the second when Strowd struck out Cody Masters and Cole Stillwell.
Entering the day with 32 walks — most in the Big 12 — Strowd issued seven more. He finally paid a price for his wildness in the fifth inning. Eight straight balls to Masters and Stillwell preceded Gabe Holt’s RBI double along the left-field line.
After walking Josh Jung on four pitches, Strowd’s outing was finished. When Brian Klein greeted reliever Ryan Bergert with a sac-fly to left, the Red Raiders had a 2-0 lead.
Strowd allowed three hits and two earned runs over four-plus innings, his shortest outing among nine starts this season.
Texas Tech made it a three-run gap in the eighth inning on pinch-hitter Doug Facendo’s RBI single, a run charged to Gabe Kurtzhals.
Kilian struck out Brandon White for the third time to end it, becoming the first Texas Tech pitcher to throw a nine-inning shutout since 2014.
Despite being shut out for the third time this season, the Mountaineers still helped their resume with a third straight series victory, having won Friday’s game 2-0 and Saturday’s 4-3.