West Virginia cools off Troy's hot bats to keep its College World Series run going with a 12-0 win
Dawson Montesa held Troy to two hits while pitching into the sixth inning, West Virginia’s bullpen worked out of two bases-loaded situations and Gavin Kelly hit a three-run homer as the Mountaineers ended the Trojans’ first College World Series appearance with a 12-0 victory
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Dawson Montesa held Troy to two hits while pitching into the sixth inning, West Virginia's bullpen worked out of two bases-loaded situations and Gavin Kelly hit a three-run homer as the Mountaineers ended the Trojans' first College World Series appearance with a 12-0 victory Tuesday.
The Mountaineers (47-16) have reached the final four in their CWS debut and will face North Carolina in the Bracket 1 final. They would have to beat the Tar Heels on Wednesday and again Thursday to reach the best-of-three championship round this weekend.
West Virginia, which beat Troy 7-5 in the CWS opener Friday, was in a must-win situation after losing 5-2 to North Carolina on Sunday. The Mountaineers, who staved off elimination three times to win their regional, will face a well-rested North Carolina team that has allowed four runs in their last 22 innings.
The Mountaineers won for the 19th time in 22 games and posted their seventh shutout of the season, and they did it against a team that was averaging 10 runs per game in the postseason.
West Virginia scored two runs against Cooper Ellingworth (2-5) and made it 6-0 against Dylan Alonso after its first two batters in the sixth inning were retired. The next five reached, with Kelly going deep and Sean Smith singling in another run. Kelly finished with three hits and four RBIs.
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Montesa (6-5), making his first start since May 31, held Troy hitless into the fourth inning and left with one out in the sixth with two runners on base. Reliever Ben McDougal issued a two-out walk to load the bases before he induced an inning-ending groundout.
The Trojans loaded the bases again in the seventh, this time with none out. Reese Bassinger came on to face Blake Cavill, who struck out for the seventh time in 13 CWS at-bats. He got Jimmy Janicki to fly out and struck out Steven Meier to keep Troy scoreless.
The Trojans had erased a four-run deficit to beat Mississippi 12-8 on Sunday, but there would be no comeback this time. Bassinger struck out five of the first six batters he faced and turned the ball over to Carson Estridge in the ninth with a 12-run lead.
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