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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The West Virginia baseball team opened its 2020 season with a bang, shutting out Jacksonville, 3-0.
Jackson Wolf shined on the mound in the Mountaineers (1-0) win, throwing seven shoutout innings while redshirt senior Braden Zarbnisky allowed a two-run single to earn the save.
Wolf struck out eight on 97 pitches to earn the victory and retired 18 Dolphins in a row during his time on the mound. He allowed one hit and no runs.
“That was not an easy game — (Jacksonville) can really pitch,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “Jackson showed a level of toughness that I haven’t seen out of him, going out there and answering every time they got some momentum because we didn’t score when we had guys in scoring position. He proceeded to go 1-2-3 in the following inning. If he pitches like that every time out, we’re going to win a lot of games with him on the mound.”
West Virginia finished with three runs off a 7 of 32 performance while the Dolphins had just three hits off 30 trips to the plate.
The Mountaineers picked up their first two runs of the game in the top of the seventh after a single by Kevin Brophy to right field and a hit by pitch on Victor Scott loaded first and second. Zarbnisky then stepped up to deliver a powerful line drive to center field to put WVU on the board. West Virginia padded the lead in the eighth when Scott registered a sac fly, putting in Paul McIntosh.
The Mountaineers and Dolphins return to action today at 2 p.m.
Wrestling falls to No. 16 Northern Iowa 36-6
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Although the Mountaineers fell to Northern Iowa in Friday’s road dual, Noah Adams extended his win streak to 26 with a 6-1 decision over Isaiah Patton.
Adams, ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Coaches Panel in the 197 weight class, was just the second Mountaineer to log a win following 157-pounder Alex Hornfeck’s 7-3 decision over Paden Moore.
Northern Iowa (7-3, 6-1 Big 12) dominated the first four duals, beginning with No. 16 Jay Schwarm’s (125) 58-second pin over Joey Thomas. From there No. 23 Jack Skudlarczyk (133) defeated Lucas Seibart by a 14-3 MD, No. 14 Michael Blockhus (141) defeated Caleb Rea 11-10 and No. 10 Max Thomsen (149) defeated Liam Lusher by tech fall, 22-6.
Hornfeck got the Mountaineers (3-10, 0-5) on the board, but three straight wins by Austin Yant (7-3 dec. Paden Moore), No. 5 Bryce Steiert (Fall 1:04, Scott Joll) and No. 4 Taylor Lujan (Fall 5:48, Jackson Moomau) sealed any hope of a comeback by the Mountaineers.
After Adam’s win over Patton, UNI’s heavyweight No. 12 Carter Isley defeated Sean Mullican 6-2.
West Virginia returns to action today, staying in Iowa and traveling to Aimes to face off against No. 19 Iowa State. The match is set for 8 p.m.
