MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Interstat) — West Virginia Mountaineers defeated Wake Forest Demon Deacons 10-5 on Sunday afternoon in a game that turned on a six-run sixth inning that broke open a tie ballgame.

The Mountaineers, now 41-15, used a dominant start from Dawson Montesa, who allowed four earned runs on four hits over 7 1/3 innings while striking out seven. Sean Smith led the offense with three hits and two RBIs. Reese Bassinger pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit and striking out two.

Wake Forest, which fell to 39-21, got home runs from Matt Conte and Andrew Costello. Conte finished 1-for-4 with a two-run homer and Costello was 1-for-4 with a solo shot. Reliever Ryan Bosch threw two scoreless innings, striking out two, and Will Ray added a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts.

The game started slowly, with neither team scoring through the first inning. Wake Forest threatened in the second but left a runner on base. West Virginia broke through in the bottom of the second. After a single by Smith and a single by Graveline, a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. A wild pitch allowed Smith to score, and after a walk to Lumsden, a single by Hall drove in Graveline and Lumsden when Costello misplayed the ball in right field, giving West Virginia a 3-0 lead.

Wake Forest answered in the third. Schaaf doubled and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, then scored on a groundout by Will. The Demon Deacons tied the game in the fourth. Wentz walked, and Conte crushed his 12th home run of the season to deep right field, making the score 3-3.

West Virginia regained the lead in the fifth. Kelly doubled and scored on Smith’s single to center, putting the Mountaineers up 4-3.

The decisive moment came in the bottom of the sixth. Ineich singled, Kresser singled, and Lumsden doubled to left to score Ineich and tie the game at 4-4. After a pitching change, Hall walked, Guzman singled to bring in Kresser and give West Virginia a 5-4 lead. Kelly singled to center to drive in Lumsden and make it 6-4. A sacrifice fly by Schoenfeld scored Hall. Later, Guzman scored on a throwing error by Bosch during a failed pickoff attempt, and Smith doubled to right to score Kelly, capping the inning at 10-3.

Wake Forest answered with a solo home run by Costello in the seventh and an unearned run in the eighth when Wentz scored on a wild pitch after reaching on a double, but the Demon Deacons could not get closer.

Troy Dressler took the loss for Wake Forest, allowing six earned runs over five innings with four strikeouts, though he gave up no hits according to official statistics — a statistical anomaly that nonetheless reflected his struggles with command and defensive support.

The game featured a combined 18 hits, with West Virginia outhitting Wake Forest 13-5. The Demon Deacons left six runners on base, while the Mountaineers stranded eight.

Wake Forest entered the game after a 12-3 win over Binghamton on Saturday, while West Virginia had lost 11-9 to Kentucky the previous day.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 7-6 West Virginia victory. The Mountaineers were installed as a -1.5 favorite with a 50.30 percent probability to win according to Interstat’s ELO system.