The No. 9 West Virginia Mountaineers (39-13) knocked off the No. 21 Arizona State Sun Devils (37-19) Friday night 7-3 to advance to the Big 12 baseball championship.
West Virginia grabbed the early advantage in the bottom of the second inning after senior Sean Smith hustled for a leadoff double before senior Brodie Kresser lined a two-out RBI double for a 1-0 lead.
West Virginia sophomore starting pitcher Chansen Cole threw three hitless innings, but in the fourth, redshirt junior Contrades drove a triple past a diving WVU senior centerfielder Paul Schoenfeld, and fifth year senior Dean Toigo reached out and lifted the 1-1 pitch over the left centerfield wall for a 2-1 Arizona State lead.
Cole left the game after five innings. He struck out six and allowed the two runs on the two hits as Joshua Surigao took the mound in the sixth. The sophomore registered two outs, including a strikeout, and issued a walk to Contrades in-between, but Sabins opted to bring in right hander Carson Estridge. The senior struggled to find the strike zone as Contrades swiped second and scored on a wild pitch before senior Reese Bassinger took the mound to record the final out of the inning.
Arizona State starting pitcher Cole Carlon entered the sixth inning and after registering the first out with a pop fly, Sun Devils head coach Willie Bloomquist called sophomore Finn Edwards in from the bullpen. Carlon finished the night with six strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.
