West Virginia was able to tie it up in the bottom of the third inning, as senior shortstop Brodie Kresser hit a sac fly to right field, scoring senior left fielder Kyle West to make it a 1-1 game.

The fourth inning saw the Mountaineers take the lead when junior second baseman Sam White capitalized on JMU pitcher Corey Costello stepping off the rubber by stealing home to give WVU a 2-1 lead. This then turned to a 3-1 lead when Jace Rinehart scored after a wild pitch.

A highlight reel play took place in the bottom of the sixth inning, as junior center fielder Skylar King made a spectacular diving catch to end the inning.

West Virginia then held on for the rest of the game, moving to 18-1 on the season despite tying a season low for runs scored.

Pitching prowess gets it done

It was not a spectacular showing at the plate as WVU went 6-27 (.222) with only two walks and one extra-base hit. King was the star of the lineup on the night, going 3-3 to up his season average to .474 while also stealing two bases, while Kresser’s sac fly was the only Mountaineer RBI. 

It was much better on the mound highlighted by a stellar outing from starter David Hagens, as the freshman right-handed pitcher went five innings, giving up only one run on two hits and no walks while striking out five batters. Relieved by senior righty Reese Bassinger, the Tarleton State transfer threw 2.1 innings giving up no runs on four hits. And to close out the game, righty grad student Jack Kartsonas was perfect as the Kent State transfer allowed no hits and no walks in the final 1.2 innings of the game while striking out four batters to get his first save of the season, also lowering his season ERA to 1.50. In total, the WVU pitching staff have up six hits and zero walks across nine innings while striking out 10 batters.