Over the last eight games and for most of their season, West Virginia's offense has carried their team while timely pitching has helped close out wins.
On Saturday night against Houston, that same recipe helped the Mountaineers earn a 9-8 victory over the Cougars, getting the series win in the process.
West Virginia's offense scored nine runs between the second through fifth innings, taking a 9-4 lead. Houston would cut the lead to 9-8 in the eighth, but the Mountaineers ultimately outlasted the Cougars to seal the game two victory.
West Virginia starting pitcher Gavin Van Kempen had another rough outing on Saturday. The right-hander gave up three runs in the first inning, and his night ended without him completing the third inning.
Van Kempen surrendered four runs on five hits, the second time in as many weeks he's given up four runs in an outing, and his 2.2 innings pitched was his shortest start of the season.
Trailing 3-0 early, the Mountaineer bats quickly erased the deficit. WVU tied the game in the second as Grant Hussey grounded out to plate one before Gavin Kelly knocked home two more runs on a double that one-hopped the left field wall.
Van Kempen tossed a scoreless second as the Mountaineers took the lead in the top half of the third. Chase Swain hit his second triple of the year to score two, as Kyle West and Sam White came around to score as WVU led 5-3.
Houston added a run in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-4, before West Virginia scored the next four runs of the game. West doubled in the fourth to plate two more, before Gavin Kelly reached on a fielder's choice to score one, and then Skylar King scored another on a single as WVU took a 9-4 lead.
After Van Kempen came Ben Hudson who gave up three runs on one hit, with all three coming in the fifth. A hit by pitch, walk, and then a home run from Malachi Lott, made the game 9-7, and it would end his night following the fifth.
As of late, West Virginia's ace has been coming out of the bullpen in the form of Chase Meyer. With a two-run lead in the sixth, it would be Meyer who the Mountaineers turned to.
Meyer was just what the doctor ordered in the sixth, striking out the side on just 14 pitches. The seventh though was a different story.
Meyer's command has been the biggest difference from his freshman year last year to his sophomore season this year. Meyer entered the night with 12 walks in 24.0 innings pitched, but he walked four in the seventh inning, all coming with two outs as the Cougars cut the deficit to 9-8 as Meyer was replaced by Carson Estridge. Estridge would get a groundout to end the inning, and he would be the guy head coach Steve Sabins stuck with.
Estridge pitched a scoreless eighth, working around a walk, and then a two-out single would end the inning as Brodie Kresser threw the ball to Hussey who fired the ball home, to Kelly, cutting down the runner at home who tried to tie the game from second on the infield single.
Estridge would toss a 1-2-3 ninth inning, as his evening finished tossing 2.1 innings, giving up no runs on one hit, striking out one in the process.
With the win, WVU has earned their ninth win in a row, and they stay atop the Big 12 standings at 9-3 in league play.
WVU goes for the sweep on Sunday with first pitch set for 12:30 p.m.
