GRANVILLE, W.Va. — Less than 48 hours after Chase Swain stole home with two outs in the ninth inning of what amounted to a 5-4 win at Marshall, 24th-ranked West Virginia was back in action Thursday to welcome Cincinnati and looking to extend the nation’s longest win streak at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
Somehow, the Mountaineers continue to find new ways to win.
This time around, Chase Meyer struck out Tommy O’Connor with two outs in the top of the ninth inning and Derrick Pitts at third base representing the tying run. Following O’Connor’s swing and miss, the ball got away from Mountaineer catcher Logan Sauve, allowing Pitts to come home from third for what appeared to be the tying run. However, upon review, it was determined the ball hit off O’Connor’s foot after he had struck out, thus ending the play at that point, preventing Pitts’ run from counting and allowing the Mountaineers to prevail, 3-2.
“Chase’s stuff is so nasty. He will hit some people and get strikeouts,” WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. “That’s not the first time that’s happened. But to end a game like that is bizarre. The last two games have been wild.”
Game-ending sequence in West Virginia’s 3-2 victory over Cincinnati.
Chase Meyer strikes out Tommy O’Connor with Derrick Pitts at third base. Pitts comes home on the strikeout, but on review, it was ruled the ball hit off O’Connor after he swung, bringing an end to the play. pic.twitter.com/A952r1dIMt
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) April 18, 2025
It was a unique ending to an emotional matchup, one that featured Meyer throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief to help extend the Mountaineers’ win streak to 12 games — the longest streak in the country.
He entered for starter Griffin Kirn with the game tied at 2 in the top of the sixth at a point the Bearcats (21-16, 8-8) had the bases loaded and two outs. Meyer struck out Lauden Brooks on three pitches to keep the contest tied.
“At times, being emotional has helped me. Also, it’s hurt me,” Meyer said. “It’s just knowing when you need that, when your team needs that and knowing when you need to come within yourself and make a pitch.”
WVU (32-4, 11-3) went in front in the home half of that inning after Kyle West drew a two-out walk and scored on Jace Rinehart’s double into the left field corner.
“Full send the whole way. The left fielder was playing really deep — like on the chain link,” Sabins said. “Kyle West is a better runner than you would think. He’s a pretty good runner for a big dude.”
Meyer retired UC in order in the seventh and induced an inning-ending double play back to the mound off the bat of Christian Mitchelle to escape trouble in the eighth after two of the first three Bearcats to bat that inning reached base.
While West Virginia made the most of limited scoring opportunities to score three runs, it squandered a golden opportunity in the eighth to add to its advantage.
Skylar King’s leadoff single combined with consecutive walks created a bases loaded situation with no outs, but Ben Lumsden, who had replaced Rinehart for defense, hit a fly ball to shallow right field for the first out. At that point, Chase Horst was relieved by Adam Buckzowski, who struck out Gavin Kelly and Swain to keep it a one-run game.
“That’s not how you draw it up,” Sabins said. “We had a chance to close it out there and didn’t do that. I lost the chicken battle for the inning, but won the war for the game.”
When Quinton Coats led off the top of the ninth with a single and was replaced by Pitts, who immediately stole second, failing to score in the eighth was on the verge of proving especially costly for Sabins’ team.
But after Pitts went to third on a sacrifice bunt, Meyer struck out Dawson Hokuf for the second out, setting the stage for the quirky ending and WVU to improve to 6-0 in one-run games.
“I heard it hit off his foot and everybody knows Logan’s a great catcher and he wouldn’t miss a ball like that,” Meyer said. “I was more worried about if our cameras didn’t work. That was probably it.”
In a game with 11 hits between the two teams, Rinehart made the most of a first-inning at bat to give the Mountaineers a 1-0 lead. It came after West’s strikeout with two outs, with a wild pitch allowing him to reach on the play. West then stole second unchallenged and scored on Rinehart’s single through the hole between second and third base.
All three WVU runs came with two outs, starting in the first after West struck out but reached on a wild pitch. He then stole second unchallenged and scored on Rinehart’s single to left.
Donovan Ford’s two-run single in the third gave UC a lead, but the visitors had runners at the corners with one out and failed to add to the advantage.
Spencer Barnett scored the tying run on a wild pitch in the home half of that frame after he reached on a leadoff single.
Both starting pitchers were stingy, with Kirn allowing two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked one.
Cincinnati’s Nathan Taylor, who entered 4-0 with a 2.70 ERA, allowed three runs on four hits over six innings. He struck out four and issued a pair of base-on-balls.
“Never really got the offense cooking too much, but Nathan Taylor is a great pitcher and had a great game,” Sabins said. “That’s a competitive team. They run the bases well and that’s the best bunting team in the country.”
Game 2 of the three-game set is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Sabins can’t envision a similar ending anytime soon.
“I had no idea. Everyone else in the dugout seemed to know other than me, but [assistant coach Justin Oney] was fired up and he was cheering when the ball was going to the back stop and everything was going in slow motion to me,” Sabins said. “Logan was saying it hit him in the foot. I could tell from the dugout’s reaction that it was relatively calm and not begging for a call. My biggest reason I thought that it did hit his foot is because Logan is the best blocker in the country. He’s incredible.”