MORGANTOWN — As far as first impressions go, No. 24 West Virginia made an impressive one Friday night in its Big 12 baseball opener in an 8-3 victory against Kansas State.
Most of that was courtesy of right fielder Caleb McNeely, who tripled in the ninth inning to complete the cycle.
He also homered in the second inning, singled in the third and doubled in the fifth.
McNeely finished 4 for 5 with three RBIs. It’s just the fourth time in school history a WVU player hit for the cycle, and the first since Billy Fleming in 2014.
J.J. Wetherholt also added a two-run homer, as the Mountaineers (20-6, 1-0 Big 12) rolled inside Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.
In picking up its 20th victory of the season in 26 games, WVU is off to its best start since 2009, when the Mountaineers also began 20-6.
In all, WVU had eight extra-base hits, more than enough to support starting pitcher Ben Hampton (2-0), who won his second game of the season while striking out 10 over 6 2/3 innings.
He allowed five hits, three runs and walked four.
“It feels good winning our first conference game,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “Ben Hampton did what he was supposed to do, pitched really well. The top of the lineup was great with J.J. having three hits and McNeely hitting for the cycle. It’s just a great start to the Big 12 season.”
The only real damage done against Hampton was two solo home runs from Brendan Jones and Kaelen Culpepper in the first inning that gave the Wildcats (18-10, 4-3) the early lead.
Carlson Reed finished out the seventh and pitched into the ninth before being relieved by Noah Short with two outs. Reed went two scoreless innings, struck out three and allowed one hit.
WVU answered back in the second inning, when McNeely hit his fifth home run of the season and Grant Hussey doubled home Ellis Garcia to tie the game. Hussey also hit a solo home run in the eighth inning, the Mountaineers’ third of the game.
WVU took the lead for good an inning later when McNeely singled home Wetherholt for a 3-2 lead.
McNeely doubled home Braden Barry in the fifth and Wetherholt — the Big 12’s leading hitter with a .468 batting average — homered to right field in the sixth to score teammate Tevin Tucker.
Wetherholt finished 3 for 5, his 16th multi-hit game of the season.
The series continues at 5 p.m. Saturday, with Blaine Traxel (5-1) on the mound for the Mountaineers. Traxel leads the nation with four complete games.
The third and final game of the series is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday.
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