ATLANTA — Alek Manoah struck out 13 batters over six innings, a dominant performance that went to waste thanks to a letdown by West Virginia’s bullpen and a key error.
Kennesaw State rallied for three runs in the seventh to deal the Mountaineers a 5-3 loss in Friday’s baseball season opener.
The junior Manoah left with a 3-2 lead, having thrown 58 of 79 pitches for strikes. He issued no walks, a stark contrast to his wildness of 2018.
This time the control problems belonged to left-hander Nick Snyder (0-1), who hit a batter and walked two more to create a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the seventh. When Beau Lowery coaxed a potential rally-killing double-play grounder, WVU got the force at second base before a throwing error by Tyler Doanes allowed two runs to score.
Garrett Hodges followed with an RBI single, his second run-scoring hit of the day for Kennesaw State.
Though West Virginia got a runner aboard in the ninth, but Jake McLinskey earned the save by snaring Tristen Hudson’s line drive and turning it into an unassisted double play.
Ivan Gonzalez put West Virginia up 3-1 in the sixth with a two-run single.
Kevin Brophy’s two-out throwing error in the fifth helped Kennesaw State knot the game at 1-1 when Alex Carballo followed with an RBI single.
Manoah struck out five of the first six batters he faced before escaping a bases-loaded situation in the third by fanning Hodges. He allowed five hits.
Jared Staples (1-0) pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Owls, who were picked fifth in the nine-team Atlantic Sun preseason poll.
Doanes and Marques Inman had two hits each for the Mountaineers, who play a doubleheader Saturday against Georgia State and Georgia Tech.
