GRANVILLE, W.Va. — The Mountaineers had already plated four runs in the fourth inning when the crowd on-hand at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark began to rise. At 2:37 p.m., JJ Wetherholt emerged from the dugout.

Wetherholt had missed the previous five games due to a left-hand injury he suffered last weekend against Oklahoma State. The standout second baseman took a few practice swings, and dug into the batter’s box.

On the second pitch of his at-bat, Wetherholt laced a pinch-hit, bases-clearing double to right field with the bases loaded. The Mars, Pennsylvania, native’s return highlighted WVU’s eight-run fourth inning, and highlighted the Mountaineers’ series sweep of TCU (22-18, 7-8).

WVU not only sweeps the visiting Horned Frogs, but the Mountaineers do it in seven innings, earning a run-ruled 17-7 victory to complete the sweep.

West Virginia (29-11, 8-4 Big 12) was already leading 3-1 when the fourth inning began. The Mountaineer hitters followed Robby Porco’s 1-2-3 top of the frame by batting around in the bottom of it.

Dayne Leonard got the big inning started with a two-run single to right-center. Back-to-back hit batters plated a third run in the frame. Braden Barry then drew a walk to put West Virginia ahead 7-1. That prompted a change to the lineup card for Randy Mazey.

Mazey inserted Wetherholt into the lineup for the first time since April 14. After fouling off one pitch, the midseason All-American middle infielder made solid contact on his next swing. He drove the pitch to the fence in right field. Three runs scored on his 17th double of the season, which had the home crowd roaring and the Mountaineers up by nine on the scoreboard.

WVU led 11-1 when the big inning came to an end.

TCU cut into the deficit with a grand slam in the top of the fifth, but reliever Noah Short struck out back-to-back hitters to end the frame and strand a runner at second base. The Horned Frogs belted another long ball in the top of the sixth to pull to within four runs.

West Virginia’s bats, which went quiet after the monstrous fourth inning, re-awoke in the seventh. The Mountaineers scored six runs on four hits and four walks in the frame. Grant Hussey electrified the inning with a three-run home run to right-center field, the third of its kind for the Mountaineers in the series.

Hussey finished the day 2 for 2 with two walks, five runs batted in, and two runs scored.

Wetherholt drove in another run two batters later. And two hitters after him, Tevin Tucker legged out an infield single, diving head-first across the bag at first base, and allowing the winning run to score.

WVU needed just seven innings to beat TCU for the third time in the weekend. The Mountaineers scored 17 runs on 13 hits and nine walks. Eight WVU hitters scored multiple runs, and four hitters collected multiple RBI.

Wetherholt drove in four runs, needing just three trips to the plate to do so, on his first day back. He also extended his reached-base streak to 42 consecutive games. Tucker and Leonard had multi-RBI days, as well. Meanwhile, Landon Wallace’s 13-game hitting streak came to an end. Tucker extended his reached-base streak to 30 consecutive contests.

West Virginia hosts Penn State at Wagener Field on Tuesday.