CLEMSON, S.C. — In an intense matchup, West Virginia secured a 9-6 victory over the eleventh-seeded Clemson during the Clemson Regional on Saturday night. Sam White emerged as a key player, going 3 for 5 and collecting two crucial RBIs, while Armani Guzman also added two RBIs to the team’s winning score.
Following this win, Clemson, with a season record of 45-17, is set to face Kentucky in an elimination game on Sunday. West Virginia, sporting a 43-14 record, will meet the winner from this game, competing for the opportunity to move forward to the super regionals for a second consecutive year.
The action-packed game saw West Virginia initially take a commanding 4-0 lead. However, Clemson mounted a comeback with four runs of their own in the sixth inning. Nevertheless, Guzman reignited the offensive charge for the Mountaineers with a pivotal two-out hit in the eighth inning, putting them back on top, 5-4.
The ninth inning proved decisive when a two-out walk snowballed into four more runs for West Virginia. Sam White’s powerful hit off the base of the right-field wall was enough to bring Jorge Valdes home from first base, granting West Virginia a 6-5 advantage. Subsequently, a solid hit from Ben Lumsden widened the lead with two more runs. Guzman and Skylar King both endured hit-by-pitches with the bases loaded, extending the score to 9-5.
In the final stretch of the game, Clemson managed to load the bases, adding one more run in the ninth. However, West Virginia’s Ben McDougal impressively shifted from a 2-0 count to striking out Clemson’s Jack Crighton, neatly sealing his second save of the season.
West Virginia’s starting pitcher, Jack Kartsonas, delivered a strong performance, striking out seven and conceding just two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings. Chase Meyer also played a vital role, bagging his ninth win of the season with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. On the other hand, Lucas Mahlstedt from Clemson allowed four runs within an inning, which marked a challenging outing for him with a 4-1 record.