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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The No. 3-ranked West Virginia University rifle team finished 2nd overall at the 2020 Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships with a two-day total of 4693.
After a 2323 showing in smallbore on Friday, WVU shot 2370 in air rifle on Saturday. Kentucky had the top air rifle mark of 2385.
The Wildcats, the only squad to defeat the Mountaineers in the regular season, finished 1st with a score of 4711. Akron finished 3rd (4683), while Nebraska and Navy tied for 4th (4678).
Junior Sarah Osborn finished the weekend with the championships second-best combined score, earning 583 smallbore and 597 air rifle for an aggregate score of 1180. Osborn’s air rifle total was a personal best.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will embark on a week of preparation before competing in the 2020 NCAA Rifle Championships, March 13-14, at the University of Kentucky, in Lexington, Ky.
Mountaineers dominate William & Mary 13-4
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — The West Virginia baseball team used a five-run first inning to its advantage in a 13-4 win over William & Mary on Saturday afternoon.
WVU finished with 13 runs on 15 hits in the victory over the Tribe.
Along with the five runs in the first, WVU (6-4) brought a run home in the second, three in the third, one in the seventh and three in the eighth.
WVU jumped on the hosts early when Vince Ippoliti tallied a two-run double to make it 2-0. Then, designated hitter Paul McIntosh registered a bases-clearing double to right, scoring three more runs to give the Mountaineers a 5-0 advantage.
WVU added a sixth run in the top of the second inning on an RBI groundout by Tyler Doanes to make it 6-0. From there, William & Mary (3-7) battled back, scoring four in the bottom of the second to cut the Mountaineers’ lead to just two.
But the Mountaineers answered with three more runs in the third, highlighted by a two-run single by Braden Zarbnisky. Prior to that, West Virginia brought its first run of the frame across when McIntosh hit a sacrifice fly.
WVU led, 9-4. Then, in the seventh McIntosh broke the double-digit mark before the team added the final three runs in the eighth.
Right-handed pitcher Ryan Bergert retired 10 straight batters from the second to the fifth, getting himself into the sixth inning. In all, he allowed four runs on four hits in 5.2 innings, striking out six and earning the win to improve his season record to 2-0.
McIntosh finished with a season-high five RBIs in the win, while Zarbnisky went 4 for 5 with a double, three runs scored, two stolen bases and two RBIs. Additionally, Ippoliti tallied three hits and three RBIs, while Doanes went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs.
West Virginia concludes the Central Virginia Challenge with a trip to Richmond today. First pitch at the Spiders’ Pitt Field is set for noon.
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