The No. 9 West Virginia Mountaineers (38-13) handled the Kansas State Wildcats (30-27) Thursday evening in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 baseball tournament 4-2 at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona.
West Virginia sophomore Gavin Kelly gave the Mountaineers the early edge with a 416-foot solo home run for a 1-0 lead.
The Mountaineers added to the lead in the sixth after senior Sean Smith ripped a single through the left side and immediately stole second base before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt from senior Matthew Graveline. Then, junior Armani Guzman laid a bunt down, scoring Smith, and reached after Kansas State senior starting pitcher Lincoln Sheffield and senior third baseman Grant Gallagher collided on the play…