Sports@DominionPost.com
MACON, Ga. — The West Virginia baseball team earned a 6-0 win over Mercer on Friday to clinch its fourth straight victory and second straight shutout in the opening game of the two schools’ three-game series.
Junior left-handed pitcher Jackson Wolf continued his strong start to the season, tossing 6.1 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just four hits and one walk, while striking out seven.
With the win, he improves his season record to 3-1.
West Virginia, which scored in the first inning for the fourth straight game, finished with six runs on 11 hits, while the Bears tallied no runs on five hits.
“It sure puts me in a good mood when we score first,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “We’ve scored a lot of runs in the first inning, and I think when we jiggled the lineup around, we started to drive more guys in and get a lead. That really helps pitching to go attack the zone.”
WVU (9-4) once again wasted no time getting started on Friday. Junior infielder Tyler Doanes plated redshirt senior outfielder Braden Zarbnisky with an RBI groundout to make it 1-0 in the top of the first. From there, the Mountaineers added a second run, thanks to a fielding error that scored redshirt sophomore catcher/designated hitter Vince Ippoliti.
On the mound, Wolf cruised through the first two frames, before allowing his first hit of the night to the Bears (11-2) in the bottom of the third. The hit snapped WVU’s streak of 13 no-hit innings for Mountaineer pitchers. Still, Wolf held the hosts scoreless.
The Mountaineers added to their lead in the fifth. After Zarbnisky was hit by a pitch, sophomore outfielder/infielder Austin Davis doubled to deep center, scoring Zarbnisky all the way from first. That gave WVU a 3-0 advantage.
Wolf retired eight of the final nine batters he faced before turning things over to sophomore right-handed pitcher Zach Ottinger out of the bullpen.
In the Mountaineers eighth, sophomore infielder Ryan Archibald came on as a pinch hitter to lead off the inning, smacking his first career home run to make it 4-0. Later, freshman outfielder Victor Scott’s single to left scored freshman catcher/infielder Matt McCormick, who got on base with a two-out double.
WVU scored its final run of the night on the base paths in the top of the ninth, as Doanes swiped second base, while Zarbnisky stole home. That led to redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Haden Erbe’s WVU debut in the bottom of the ninth. Erbe needed just eight pitches to get the final three outs.
Zarbnisky finished 2 for 3 with three runs scored and four stolen bases, marking his 10th multi-hit performance of the season. Scott also tallied a pair of hits and an RBI in the win.
WVU hasn’t allowed a run in 26 consecutive innings, dating back to a 13-1 win over Richmond on March 1.
Up next, the Mountaineers take on Mercer in the second of the three-game, weekend series today at 2 p.m.
Wrestling prepares for Big 12 Championship
The West Virginia wrestling team kicks off postseason competition this weekend, as the Mountaineers travel to Tulsa, Okla., for the 2020 Big 12 Wrestling Championship. The two-day tournament will take place today and tomorrow.
The action starts today with preliminary and quarterfinal rounds set for noon. The semifinals and consolation quarterfinals will take place at 6 p.m. The consolation semifinals, as well as the third- and fifth-place matches will start at noon tomorrow, with the championship matches set for 7 p.m.
“The Big 12 Championship is the second-hardest tournament based on NCAA allocations,” said second-year coach Tim Flynn. “You have a lot of good wrestlers outside of those allocations that have qualified for the NCAA Tournament before, so you might have 70 guys vying for 54 spots. We are going to be scrapping to get in those 54 spots. We expect our guys to wrestle as well as they have in their lives.”
The Mountaineers head to the conference championship for the eighth time since joining the league in 2012. Last season, WVU maneuvered its way through a 12-team field for a ninth-place finish, as a pair of Mountaineers advanced to the final round of competition. Noah Adams and Brandon Ngati return to the Big 12 Championship this season after earning podium finishes last season. Adams placed 5th, while Ngati finished 6th.
Four Mountaineers earned pre-seeds in their respective weight classes for the tournament.
Adams joins former Mountaineers Jake Smith (2016 and 2017; 197) and Colin Johnston (2014;141) as the only West Virginia grapplers to earn a No. 1 seed in the tournament after taking the top spot at 197 pounds.
Adams finished the regular season with a perfect, 29-0 record. Further, he checks in at No. 2 in the most recent NCAA Coaches’ Panel Rankings released on Feb. 27. Adams will have a first-round bye in the tournament and will face the winner of No. 8-seed Cordell Eaton (North Dakota State) and Isaiah Patton (Northern Iowa) in the quarterfinals today.
Redshirt freshman Alex Hornfeck is the No. 6 seed at 157 pounds after posting a 16-13 overall mark and a 5-3 record in Big 12 action.He won four straight conference bouts to end the regular season, including a 9-1 major decision over No. 33 Dewey Krueger of Wyoming. Hornfeck will face Trey Brisker of Air Force in the preliminary round today. The bout will mark the first head-to-head meeting between the two.
Sophomore Caleb Rea will be the No. 6 seed at 141 pounds in his return to the conference championship. He registered 15 wins this season, including four over Big 12 opponents. He was also given a first-round bye and will square off against the winner of No. 3 Michael Blockhus (Northern Iowa) and Trevor Jefferies (Wyoming).
Redshirt sophomore Joey Thomas will kick off his first career Big 12 Championship as the No. 8 seed at 125 pounds. He has posted 15 wins on the year and was third on the team with 12 decisions. Thomas will wrestle Jeremy Trinh of Fresno State to open the tournament.
Additionally, senior Brandon Ngati (285), redshirt junior Seth Hogue (149), junior Nick Kiussis (165), sophomores Lucas Seibert (133) and Jackson Moomau (184) and freshman Scott Joll (174) will compete unseeded in their respective weight classes at the 2020 Big 12 Wrestling Championship.
Wrestlers can earn a bid to the 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships by finishing within their weight’s allocated spots at the Big 12 Championship. Those who do not earn a bid at their qualifying tournament may still be eligible for one of 47 at-large bids, which will be announced on Tuesday, followed by brackets and seeding on Wednesday at 6 p.m. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers. The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition, quality wins, coaches’ panel rankings, results against common opponents, RPI, qualifying event placement and winning percentage.
