ATLANTA — The No. 14 West Virginia baseball team closed its season-opening series at Georgia State with a 3-2 win Sunday.
WVU earned the series split in Sunday’s finale at the GSU Baseball Complex, tallying three runs on three hits with one error, while the Panthers finished with two runs on five hits and three errors. The Mountaineer bullpen played a big role in the win, as freshman left-hander Ben Hampton, junior right-hander Zach Ottinger and sophomore righty Jake Watters combined to pitch five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and recording six strikeouts.
Hampton earned the victory on the mound in his WVU debut, while GSU’s Dylan Matela took the loss. Sophomore right-hander Tyler Strechay started for WVU, going four innings and allowing two runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts in a no decision.
“Over the course of a long season, you’re going to play a lot of different games,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “You’re going to play extra-inning games, you’re going to play on the good end of blowouts, you’re going to play on the back end of blowouts, and you’re going to have to play one-run games where you have to close it out on the road. It seems like we covered every scenario in one weekend, so that’s really good experience for us to be in all those games.”
Senior Paul McIntosh scored the tying run in the 6th inning following a GSU throwing error on a WVU steal attempt. Moments later, freshman infielder Mikey Kluska slapped a bunt down and beat the throw to first, scoring sophomore outfielder Victor Scott and giving WVU a 3-2 advantage.
In the ninth, Watters earned his first career save after striking out three Panthers to close out the game.
“One thing a bullpen has to do is go out and throw strikes, and we did that for the most part,” Mazey said.
A total of 13 Mountaineers made their WVU debuts this weekend, including five who made their first career start. Additionally, West Virginia avoided the series loss with Sunday’s win, a mark that dates back to May 3-5, 2019, against TCU.
Next, WVU returns to action when it travels to the CCU Baseball Tournament in Conway, S.C., from Feb. 26-28. The Mountaineers are set to take on Kennesaw State on Friday, event host Coastal Carolina on Saturday and Bryant on Sunday.
