West Virginia starting pitcher Jack Kartsonas compiled seven shutout innings, while the Mountaineer offense pieced together five runs as they beat Texas Tech, 5-0 from Kendrick Family Ballpark in Morgantown on Sunday.
With the win, the Mountaineers claim their sixth straight Big 12 series win, and stay atop the Big 12 standings with two weekends to go in conference play.
Kartsonas was making his fourth start of the season, which was also his fourth in as many weeks. Through his first three combined starts, Kartsonas tossed 19.2 innings, allowing four runs on 12 hits, while he struck out 17.
Kartsonas would continue his success as a starter, as he followed up on those three starts, tossing 7.0 total innings, allowing no runs on five hits, while striking out seven.
Kartsonas was on from the first pitch of the game, striking out the first batter he faced on three pitches, and compiling five strikeouts through the first four innings.
Texas Tech starting pitcher Zane Petty matched Kartsonas almost pitch for pitch early on, before the Mountaineers were able to get to Petty in the fourth.
Sam White singled, and Logan Sauve walked to set up Brodie Kresser with two outs and two on. Kresser would rip the first pitch he saw off the base of the wall in left field as both White and Kresser scampered home to score. The next batter, Grant Hussey, also doubled, scoring Kresser to put West Virginia ahead 3-0.
Petty would end up pitching into the sixth inning, finishing with 5.2 innings pitched, allowing three runs on seven hits, while he struck out four and walked one.
While West Virginia's offense got Kartsonas some run support, he was able to return the favor by stranding multiple Red Raiders in the sixth and seventh innings.
In the sixth, Texas Tech had runners on first and second with one out, but a lineout and then a strikeout ended the threat. In the seventh, the Red Raiders pushed a runner to second with two outs, but Kartsonas got a fly out to escape the jam.
In the bottom of the seventh, West Virginia's offense got some much-needed insurance as Gavin Kelly doubled, before Kyle West hit a 421-foot home run to right field, putting WVU ahead 5-0. The home run was the 50th of West's career, and his 20th in two seasons at West Virginia.
Kartsonas' afternoon ended after the seventh inning, handing the ball to Carson Estridge, the team's co-leader in saves entering the day.
Estridge retired the side in the eighth with two strikeouts to go along with it. Estridge stayed in the game in the ninth, working around two hits to finish off the Red Raiders.
West Virginia moves to 39-7 on the season, as well as 18-4 in Big 12 play. This was WVU's third shutout win of the season.
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