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Mar. 26—MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia University baseball team returned to winning ways on Tuesday night at Kendrick Family Ballpark with a decisive 7-0 victory over visiting Marshall.
The victory is the 20th of the season for head coach Steve Sabins club as the Mountaineers improve to 20-3 on the year.
"Great win, our 20th of the season, " WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. "It all started with David Hagan. He's coming into his own and has been fantastic all year. It's always nice when you can trot out a freshman in a big rivalry game and see them perform."
WVU started early, loading the bases in the first inning and making way for Skylar King to get the offense going with a sacrifice fly that scored Gavin Kelly to open the scoring.
WVU starter David Hagan worked a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second, and his offense continued its support in the bottom half.
Swain opened the half-inning for WVU with a solo home run to left field to double the lead, 2-0.
Hagan walked the first batter of the third inning but settled in and earned three straight outs to get out of the top half of the frame.
The Mountaineer offense kept adding to its total in the bottom of the third with four runs on four hits.
Kyle West drew a walk and was followed by Jace Rinheart with a single to right field. King sent a base hit up the middle in the next at-bat, scoring West and advancing Rinehart to third.
Rinehart scored on a double steal as King took second, allowing his teammate to scamper down the third base line to home plate. Swain singled to right field for his second hit of the night, scoring King. Swain stole second base and was eventually brought around to score as Armani Guzman singled into the right-side gap.
Hagan gave up his lone hit to open the fourth inning and was relieved by Tyler Hutson after WVU had built a 6-0 lead.
"Kind of a mix of everything, " Hagen said of what worked well in the game. "We threw a lot of changeups, especially to righties. I worked on that this week, especially when I'm behind in counts."
Gavin Kelly capped the night offensively for the Mountaineers, adding their seventh and final run in the eighth inning.
"They're a good baseball team, and when you help them out like we did early in the game, they're going to score some runs, " Marshall head coach Greg Beals said. "Give their pitching staff credit, but we must muster up a little better. We were tentative offensively and didn't have a real strong offensive mindset. We had a couple of opportunities, and maybe if we could get a two-out hit here or there, we could get something going, but we just weren't able to get anything going today."
WVU played without two top players in Logan Sauve and Sam White.
Sabins noted that Sauve is battling shoulder inflammation and hopes to return in the upcoming three-game series at BYU. White's vision isn't as straightforward.
"He dislocated his shoulder, and with that comes more time, " Sabins said. "I don't know exactly what that means, but probably a longer timeframe for Sam White. I would imagine not ready this weekend and begin more physical therapy, treatment, and that kind of stuff."
West Virginia will travel to Provo, Utah for a three-game series at BYU beginning Thursday.
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The victory is the 20th of the season for head coach Steve Sabins club as the Mountaineers improve to 20-3 on the year.
"Great win, our 20th of the season, " WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. "It all started with David Hagan. He's coming into his own and has been fantastic all year. It's always nice when you can trot out a freshman in a big rivalry game and see them perform."
WVU started early, loading the bases in the first inning and making way for Skylar King to get the offense going with a sacrifice fly that scored Gavin Kelly to open the scoring.
WVU starter David Hagan worked a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second, and his offense continued its support in the bottom half.
Swain opened the half-inning for WVU with a solo home run to left field to double the lead, 2-0.
Hagan walked the first batter of the third inning but settled in and earned three straight outs to get out of the top half of the frame.
The Mountaineer offense kept adding to its total in the bottom of the third with four runs on four hits.
Kyle West drew a walk and was followed by Jace Rinheart with a single to right field. King sent a base hit up the middle in the next at-bat, scoring West and advancing Rinehart to third.
Rinehart scored on a double steal as King took second, allowing his teammate to scamper down the third base line to home plate. Swain singled to right field for his second hit of the night, scoring King. Swain stole second base and was eventually brought around to score as Armani Guzman singled into the right-side gap.
Hagan gave up his lone hit to open the fourth inning and was relieved by Tyler Hutson after WVU had built a 6-0 lead.
"Kind of a mix of everything, " Hagen said of what worked well in the game. "We threw a lot of changeups, especially to righties. I worked on that this week, especially when I'm behind in counts."
Gavin Kelly capped the night offensively for the Mountaineers, adding their seventh and final run in the eighth inning.
"They're a good baseball team, and when you help them out like we did early in the game, they're going to score some runs, " Marshall head coach Greg Beals said. "Give their pitching staff credit, but we must muster up a little better. We were tentative offensively and didn't have a real strong offensive mindset. We had a couple of opportunities, and maybe if we could get a two-out hit here or there, we could get something going, but we just weren't able to get anything going today."
WVU played without two top players in Logan Sauve and Sam White.
Sabins noted that Sauve is battling shoulder inflammation and hopes to return in the upcoming three-game series at BYU. White's vision isn't as straightforward.
"He dislocated his shoulder, and with that comes more time, " Sabins said. "I don't know exactly what that means, but probably a longer timeframe for Sam White. I would imagine not ready this weekend and begin more physical therapy, treatment, and that kind of stuff."
West Virginia will travel to Provo, Utah for a three-game series at BYU beginning Thursday.
Continue reading...
