Mar. 30—MORGANTOWN — It ended up as a three-game baseball series that would have put some college football teams to shame.
Over the course of three games inside Miller Park in Provo, Utah, WVU put up a combined 44 runs.
The Mountaineers took the three-game series Saturday, but not before blowing a seven-run lead and then coming back from an eight-run deficit.
Final score: WVU 19, BYU 16. That was just the third game.
BOX SCORE The Mountaineers (22-4, 4-3 Big 12) scored a season-high 20 runs to win Game 2 in a rout, but were held to five runs in Game 1, in which BYU won in a rout, 14-5.
Both teams combined for 80 runs and 84 hits over the three games.
WVU pounded out a season-high 20 hits and also drew five walks on Saturday. The Mountaineers hit an amazing.632 (12 of 19) with runners in scoring position.
Jace Rineart went 3 for 6 and drove in six runs. The last WVU player to have that many RBIs in a game was J.J. Wetherholt in 2023.
Kyle West had four hits, including two doubles and Armani Guzman had two hits, including a three-run home run in the second inning that got the scoring spree started.
Before BYU (14-11, 4-5) batted in the third inning, the Cougars already trailed 7-0.
That didn't last long.
BYU scored five runs in the bottom of the third, highlighted by Keoni Painter's triple.
That was nothing compared to the fourth inning, in which BYU scored 10 runs to take a 15-7 lead.
The Cougars sent 16 hitters to the plate. Luke Anderson picked up four RBIs in the inning on two separate at-bats and WVU used four pitchers to get through the inning.
WVU's defense struggled with three errors in the inning, while the Mountaineers' pitching allowed four hits, three walks and also hit three batters in the inning.
That led WVU to the fifth inning, in which it got back into the game after West's bases-loaded double and Rineart scored two more with a base hit.
BYU's lead was now cut to 15-13.
WVU took the lead for good with three runs in the seventh that came from Rineart's fifth home run of the season, a three-run shot to right field.
The Mountaineers added three more in the eighth on RBI hits from Spencer Barnett, West and Rineart.
Chase Meyer picked up his first save of the season. He got the last two outs in the ninth without allowing a hit or a walk. Freshman Mac Stiffler earned the win. He went two innings in relief and gave up one hit and no runs.
Some collective offensive numbers were impressive. WVU's Chase Swain batted.545 over the series, while Guzman hit.500 with seven RBIs and Barnett hit.461 with six RBIs.
Grant Hussey hit.429, while West batted.500 and drove in three runs. Rineart hit.333 and collected six RBIs.
