AUSTIN, Texas – Bryce Elder carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but No. 17 West Virginia rallied for a 3-2 win Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The Longhorns (24-20, 5-10 Big 12) finished the game with a 9-3 advantage in hits, but two of the Mountaineer’s hits were home runs.
Elder struck out a career-high 13 batters in 7 2/3 innings pitched, carrying a perfect game into the sixth inning and having his no-hit bid broken up with two outs in the seventh.
Texas scored first and carried that lead all the way until the eighth inning. Eric Kennedy, who finished 4-for-4 in the game, hit a two-out husting double to spark a third-inning rally. On the very next pitch, Austin Todd drove in Kennedy with an RBI single to left field.
With two outs in the top of the eighth, Elder walked a batter and pinch-hitter TJ Lake hit a two-run homer to right field.
The Longhorns battled back in the bottom of the eighth to tie it up 2-2 on a two-out RBI single by Ryan Reynolds. He drove in Kennedy, who got his fourth hit of the game and scored his second run.
West Virginia managed to come right back to retake the lead in the top of the ninth with a solo homer off of Matteo Bocchi.
Texas will try to even the series on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.