AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 6 West Virginia baseball team fell to Texas, 10-4, Friday night at Disch-Falk Field. Despite the loss the Mountaineers clinched at least a share of the Big 12 title for the first time in program history after Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State, 5-0, earlier Friday night to keep the Cowboys at 14 conference wins while WVU already has 15 with just one game remaining.
West Virginia has a chance to win the outright title tomorrow with a win over the Longhorns. Texas and Oklahoma State still can share the title with the Mountaineers if they both win tomorrow. In that scenario, Texas would be the No. 1 seed in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament next week.
In Austin, Friday night, the Mountaineers got off to a better start than they did on Thursday as junior Landon Wallace put WVU out in front with a solo home run in the first inning. The lead did not last long, however, as Texas scored four in the first and three in the second to take a big early lead.
The Mountaineers had a chance to get back into the game in the third as they loaded the bases with nobody out for the heart of the lineup but managed just one run on a single by junior Braden Barry.
Texas tacked on runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings to reach double digits for the fourth consecutive game.
West Virginia got a couple of runs in the ninth on a single by freshman Sam White, but the rally ended there.
Graduate student Noah Short made history as he made his 73rd career appearance for the Mountaineers to set a new program record. He struck out his lone batter of the game.
Game three of the series and the final game of the regular season will be tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. as the Mountaineers look for the outright title.
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