Apr. 13—MORGANTOWN — In his first start of the season, Jack Kartsonas pitched seven scoreless innings to lead No. 23 WVU to a three-game sweep of Houston after an 11-4 victory Sunday inside Schroeder Park.
Logan Sauve homered twice and drove in four runs, as WVU (30-4, 10-3 Big 12) remained tied with TCU at the top of the Big 12 standings. TCU swept Kansas this weekend following a 7-2 victory Sunday.
BOX SCORE The Mountaineers have won 10 in a row and have swept their last two Big 12 series, which also includes a three-game sweep of Utah last week.
Kartsonas, a graduate transfer from Kent State, had been used primarily as a reliever for the season, but WVU head coach Steve Sabins gave him the starting nod against the Cougars (19-17, 5-10).
Kartsonas responded by allowing just two hits and striking out five. He didn't allow a hit until the third inning and he threw 97 pitches, 66 for strikes.
WVU held a 5-0 lead through seven innings and then tacked on four more in the eighth. Chase Swain scored on a wild pitch and then Gavin Kelly tripled and stole home. Skylar King reached on a catcher's interference call and Sauve blasted a two-run home run for a 9-0 lead.
Kyle West hit a two-run home run in the first inning to give the Mountaineers an early 2-0 lead. WVU made it 3-0 in the third after Sam White groundout scored Jace Rineart.
Sauve made it 5-0 with a two-run homer in the fourth inning.
WVU scored a combined 29 runs over the series. West finished with six RBIs, while Kelly went a combined 6 for 11 (.545) and drove in five runs.
The Mountaineers are back on the road against in-state rival Marshall at 6 p.m. Tuesday. WVU beat the Thundering Herd 7-0 earlier this season.
Saturday's game WVU 9, Houston 8 In his second game back from a shoulder injury, Sam White had three hits, Carson Estridge came up big in the bullpen and WVU also pulled off a defensive gem at the plate to clinch the three-game series against Houston.
White went 3 for 5 and Gavin Kelly also added three hits and two RBIs. Estridge earned his second save of the season after throwing scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth innings, but he got some help from his defense.
BOX SCORE Trailing 9-8 in the eighth, Houston's Jack Tatom was on second base with two outs, when teammate Tre Broussard singled past WVU shortstop Brodie Kresser.
Kresser raced after the ball, relayed a throw to WVU first baseman Grant Hussey, who threw Tatom out at the plate to preserve the lead. Estridge pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth for the save.
Houston jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning, but WVU answered in the second with three runs of its own. Hussey drove in a run with a groundout, before Kelly doubled home two runs to even the score.
Chase Swain put the Mountaineers on top in the third with a two-run triple, his second three-bagger in as many games.
Houston got one run back in the home half, before West extended the lead, 7-4, with a two-run double in the fourth. In the fifth, WVU added two more runs on an error and a single by Skylar King.
The Cougars got back in the game in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run home run by Malachi Lott, before getting within one run in the seventh. With the bases loaded in the seventh, Estridge came out of the bullpen and escaped the jam.
Benjamin Hudson earned his second win of the season with 2 1 /3 innings out of the bullpen. He allowed three runs on one hit and struck out four.
