Two days after suffering a crushing loss that left its postseason hopes hanging by a thread, West Virginia found itself dogpiling near second base Monday night.
Junior Armani Guzman lined a walk-off single to center field in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting the Mountaineers to a 6-5 victory over Kentucky and the NCAA Morgantown Regional championship at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
The victory sends West Virginia (43-15) to the NCAA Super Regionals for the third consecutive season and completed an improbable run through the consolation bracket after the Mountaineers fell to Kentucky 11-9 on Saturday night.
West Virginia responded by eliminating Wake Forest on Sunday before rallying from a three-run deficit in the ninth inning to defeat Kentucky 11-9 later that evening and force Monday’s winner-take-all championship game.
“It was just truly a beautiful week of baseball, and getting to spend more time with these kids is always the goal,” said West Virginia coach Steve Sabins. “You’re trying to stay alive to spend another day with these guys. There’s too many individual performances to concentrate. You could obviously ask me about those individuals, but the story lines are insane.”
Guzman finished 3 for 6 with two runs scored and delivered the biggest hit of the season when he lined a 2-0 pitch into center field in the 10th inning. Brodie Kresser opened the inning with a single and advanced to second on a walk by Ben Lumsden before scoring easily on Guzman’s game-winning hit.
Sophomore Gavin Kelly added two hits, including a solo home run, and scored three times while Paul Schoenfeld collected two hits and two RBIs. Matthew Graveline also had two hits and drove in a run as the Mountaineers outhit Kentucky 12-9.
West Virginia appeared to be in control for much of the evening.
The Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Kelly scored on a dropped third strike that turned into a passed ball. Guzman manufactured another run in the third, reaching on a bunt single, stealing second and eventually scoring on Schoenfeld’s RBI groundout to make it 2-0.
After Kentucky’s Hudson Brown hit a solo home run in the fourth, West Virginia answered with a two-run fifth inning. Schoenfeld singled home Guzman before Graveline doubled down the right-field line to push the lead to 4-1. Kelly added a solo homer in the sixth to extend the advantage to 5-1.
Redshirt junior Maxx Yehl provided exactly the bounce-back performance West Virginia needed after struggling against Kentucky on Saturday. The Big 12 pitcher of the year allowed one run on three hits over five innings while striking out six and walking none.
But Kentucky refused to go away.
The Wildcats struck with two outs in the eighth inning when consecutive singles set the stage for Brown’s three-run homer to right-center. Ethan Hindle followed with a solo shot to left field, suddenly tying the game at 5-5 and silencing the home crowd.
West Virginia’s bullpen regrouped from there.
Sophomore Chansen Cole stranded the potential go-ahead run in scoring position during the ninth before Dawson Montesa escaped a two-on jam in the 10th. Montesa then earned the victory after retiring the final two Kentucky hitters of the inning.
That set the stage for Guzman one final time.
After a failed sacrifice bunt attempt left runners at first and second with one out, Guzman attacked a 2-0 pitch and lined it into center field. Kentucky center fielder Jayce Tharnish charged and dove, but the ball dropped in front of him as Kresser raced home with the winning run.
The hit capped a remarkable regional for Guzman, who hit .455 with four doubles and seven RBIs in five games. Kelly was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after batting .400 with three home runs and eight RBIs.
No. 16 seed West Virginia will host Cal Poly at Kendrick Family Ballpark in the best-of-three NCAA Super Regionals with a berth in next-week’s College World Series on the line.