The West Virginia Mountaineers baseball team took care of business once again. They easily dispatched Towson University by a score of 16-5 on Tuesday afternoon at Kendrick Family Ballpark. Read WVU baseball thrashes Towson in eight innings ahead of travel roster decisions.
WVU (15-1) got many players into the game with their first 30-man travel roster for conference play being set on Thursday. Many decisions await Steve Sabins’s as the Mountaineers continually thrashed the Tigers (4-12) throughout the game.
Starting Out Hot
The Mountaineers got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, as senior left fielder Jace Rinehart hit a grounder to second base with the bases loaded, but an errant throw allowed senior designated hitter Logan Sauve and senior shortstop Brodie Kresser to score. Freshman catcher Gavin Kelly added another run when his sac fly drove in junior second baseman Sam White, and an RBI single by junior center fielder Skylar King made it 4-0 with Rinehart crossing home plate, as TU pulled starting pitcher Jonathan Rosario after just 2/3 of an inning pitched.
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The second inning didn’t stop the onslaught of runs, as senior pinch hitter Kyle West entered the game for Sauve and promptly ripped an RBI double off the left center wall. Kelly then walked with the bases loaded, with redshirt freshman pinch runner Alex Marot crossing home plate as the sixth run. King then ricocheted a line drive off the glove of the Tigers first baseman, allowing white to score and make it a 7-0 game.
Two innings later in the bottom of the fourth, Kelly added to the WVU lead with an RBI double to left center, with sophomore left fielder Michael Perazza coming home, before junior right fielder Ben Lumsden drove in Kelly with an RBI groundout. Towson got on the board with a two-run RBI in the top of the sixth, but Lumsden added another RBI groundout to make it 10-2. Junior shortstop Spencer Barnett then added to the lead with a solo homer to left field in the seventh inning.
Game Becomes Close….Briefly
Towson made the game interesting for a moment in the top of the eighth, as a bases loaded walk and two-run RBI single brought the score to 11-5, but the Mountaineers were able to limit the damage.
Marot walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eight, as Lumsden crossed home plate to make it 12-5. And right after that, Barnett cranked a grand slam to right field, putting WVU up 16-5 to end the game due to West Virginia leading by 10 runs or more after the seventh inning.
Players Perform Well with Spots up for Grabs
A grand total of 16 out of 19 Mountaineer position players appeared in the game. They made their presence known ahead of the selection for this weekend’s travel roster. WVU went 10-31 at the plate, also drawing 10 walks en route to scoring 16 runs.
Barnett all but secured his plane ticket for this weekend, going 2-5 with two home runs and five RBI, bringing his average on the year up to .281. Kelly was likely already making the trip as the No. 2 catcher, but his 2-3 performance with a double and three runs batted in was also stellar. Lumsden went 0-2 but made the most of those at-bats, driving two runs in. West also looks to have made a great bid to make the travel roster, as he went 2-3 with an RBI double and a walk. Starting center fielder Skylar King had two RBI, and also stole two bases as well.
It was the same story on the mound, as 10 pitchers appeared on the mound for West Virginia. Sophomore right-hander Chase Meyers got the start and pitched two scoreless and hitless innings, bringing his season ERA down to 3.75. The nine-man bullpen effort combined for six innings, four hits, four walks, five earned runs and 12 strikeouts. Freshman righties Mac Stiffler and Tucker DeLisle, redshirt freshman JJ Glasscock, sophomore lefty Joe Fredericks, junior lefty Ben McDougal, and junior right-hander Luke Lyman all stated their case with scoreless appearances.
Ingram and Maggy
Freshman infielders Jackson Ingram and Ryan Maggy, as well as freshman outfielder Maxwell Molessa were the only Mountaineer batters not to appear in the contest. None of them have seen game action this season. It would be a shock if they made the trip out west this weekend, and may be headed for a redshirt year to retain eligibility for next season.
The same could be said for freshman right-handed pitchers Carlos Caraballo and Aiden Cody, as well as freshman lefty JD Costanzo. Sophomore right-hander Aidan Smith has made one appearance this season, but did not appear this past weekend or today.
The Mountaineers will be flying out west for Big 12 action this weekend, as they are set to begin the conference slate against Oklahoma State at O’Brate Stadium in Stillwater, Okla. First pitch Friday is set for 7 p.m., with streaming for all three games available on ESPN+
