Pitching the most significant distinction as WVU’s season ends against LSU
For the second year in a row, West Virginia’s season ended in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Competition. The biggest distinction maker for the Mountaineers this weekend was their pitching personnel, as self-inflicted wounds cost them against LSU.
Facing No. 6 LSU in a Super Regional was a tall task, but it ended up being an even taller task as the Mountaineers had a hard time on the mound.
Griffin Kirn and Jack Kartsonas, WVU’s two beginners, pitched a combined six innings, permitting 7 hits and 10 made runs, walking five, and hitting 3 batters as well.
The biggest issue on the mound for West Virginia was their lack of consistency in throwing strikes, while those mistakes intensified into longer innings and more opportunities for an already gifted LSU offense.
In game one on Saturday, LSU scored seven runs in the fifth and 6 runs in the 6th. In the fifth, four batters in the inning reached on a walk or a hit-by-pitch. In the 6th, it was another three strolls and another hit batter for the Mountaineers as the Tigers took complete benefit.
On Sunday night, it was a comparable story for West Virginia.
Kartsonas permitted five runs in the 2nd inning, as he strolled the bases packed with 2 outs, before the middle of LSU’s order popped him for a double and two singles, scoring 5 runs in the frame.
In the seventh inning, LSU scored 6 runs, and the inning started with an error, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Then, it was a single, and two more mistakes, including the second one being a low throw with 2 outs, to extend the inning.
LSU capitalized as the next 2 batters struck a double and after that a crowning achievement, blowing the game open and erasing any possibility West Virginia had at coming back.
On the weekend, WVU’s personnel strolled 17 total batters, struck 8 batters, while they gave up 18 hits, and 28 runs. On the opposite side, LSU strolled eight batters, and while they quit 17 hits, the absence of complimentary passes compared to WVU, kept the Mountaineers from doing more damage.
Overall, against a group as good as LSU, a pitching staff is going to have to make them make every run they get in the game. West Virginia stopped working to do so, as complimentary passes and losing players when ahead in the count came back to hurt the Mountaineers on both Saturday and Sunday.