Rinehart

Oppressive heat and humidity were expected. Walks, hit batsmen. too many strikeouts and ineffective pitching made West Virginia’s twin losses seem even longer than the three-hour 46 minutes first game took and then the three-hour 41 minutes it took to grind through the second game.

The Mountaineers saw their premium season come to close in the 16-9 and 12-5 losses to the potent Bayou Bengals.

The team’s 44 wins were a school record and included a regular season championship in the Big 12 Conference. Many of the 16 losses came toward the close of the regular season, in the conference tournament, and then against the College World Series-bound Bayou Bengals.

The broiling sun and 91 degree temperatures didn’t seem to faze the crowd of 12,093 that jammed into Skip Bertman Field for the series opener that LSU won, 16-9, with its multi-run uprisings. There was a six-run frame, a seven-run spree and a three-run inning that vaulted the Tigers into the driver’s seat in the best 2-of-3 series.

Kelly

LSU drilled two grand slam home runs and savaged a group of Mountaineer pitchers after starter Griffin Kirn was lifted after his four innings. Ordinarily nine runs would keep a team clowse but LSU’s dominant scoring made WVU’s run total wane in comparison. WVU pitchers combined to walk eight and hit five batsmen. Sam White (3-for-5), Gavin Kelly (3-for-4) and Kyle West (2-for-5) led the Mountaineer offense.

In the Game Two defeat that took three hours and 41 minutes to endure, WVU pitchers walked nine and hit three more. West Virginia’s 12-5 loss saw the Tigers jump ahead, 6-0, and produce a six-run and a five-run inning along the steamy way. Another full-house crowd of 12,301 watched the Tigers earn a trip to this weekend’s College World Series.

White was again a hitting standout for the Mountaineers, going 2-for-4. Jace Rinehart was 2-fo-3 and those two along with Ben Lumsden hit home runs. However, Mountaineer batters struck out 11 times.

Jack Kartsonas was WVU’s starting pitcher and he lasted two innings while allowing six earned runs. Chase Meyer was WVU’s only problem for LSU as he went four innings and allowed only one earned run. Anthony Eyanson got the win for the Bengal Tigers and improved his record to 11-2.

The Mountaineers set a school record for wins in a season with 44 and were one series away from appearing in the school’s first-ever College World Series.

West

The eight schools qualifying for the 2025 College World Series are LSU, UCLA, Arkansas, Oregon State, Coastal Carolina, Arizona, Louisville and the winner of the Duke vs. Murray State game played this past Monday.

West Virginia was the regular season champion of the Big 12 Conference, thus earning a bid to a Regional played in Clemson, South Carolina. West Virginia posted wins over Kentucky, Clemson and then Kentucky again in going 3-0 in the Clemson-based Regional.

Lumsden

Meyer

White