Carson Estridge pitched 4 2/3 innings of solid relief and Skylar King had three hits and three RBIs to lead West Virginia to a 10-3 victory against Jacksonville in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday inside John Sessions Stadium.
The second game finished after press time. The four-game season-opening series will conclude at 1 p.m. Sunday. (ESPN+)
The Mountaineers (2-0) took a 6-0 lead in the second inning, with King driving in two runs with a triple and then scoring on Brodie Kresser’s RBI single up the middle.
That appeared to be enough early on. WVU starter Robby Porco had a no-hitter through the first three innings, but was chased in the fourth inning after giving up a solo home run and the Dolphins scored another run on a throwing error.
Estridge came in with one out in the fifth inning and allowed three hits and no runs or walks. He struck out four in picking up his first win of the season.
King also added an RBI single in the seventh inning to give the Mountaineers an 8-3 lead. Kresser also finished with three hits. Logan Sauve, Alex Marot and Michael Perazza each had two hits, as WVU had 16 hits for the game with five going for extra bases.
Friday’s game
WVU 4, Jacksonville 2
WVU did all the scoring it needed over the first two innings to make sure Steve Sabins won his first game as the Mountaineers head coach.
Griffin Kirn, a Division II transfer from Quincy Ill., was also a winner in his Mountaineers’ debut on the mound, tossing 5 2/3 innings, while allowing one run and striking out five.
Chase Meyer struck out two in a scoreless inning and Jack Kartsonas had three punchouts in 1 2/3 innings. Reese Bassinger earned the save by inducing a game-ending double play on his only pitch of the game in the ninth inning.
Logan Sauve, Skylar King, Brodie Kresser and Armani Guzman each had two hits. Sauve, Guzman, Kyle West, and Michael Perazza all drove in a run.
The Mountaineers got off to a fast start, as Sauve and White led off the game with back-to-back singles before both came home to score on a pair of productive outs, a groundout from West and a sacrifice fly by Perazza.
WVU added two more runs in the second inning on a pair of RBI singles by Guzman and Sauve. For Guzman, it was the first RBI of his college career.
Kirn did not allow a hit until the fifth inning, getting some help from his defense, most notably a sliding catch by Guzman in right field.
The Dolphins put a run on the board in the fifth and had their biggest threat of the game in the seventh, putting runners on second and third with nobody out. Meyer responded with a pair of strikeouts before Kartsonas came out of the bullpen and stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout.
In the ninth, Bassinger came on to pitch with the tying run at the plate and got a 6-4-3 double play to secure the victory.
