MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia baseball team scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning to set the tone in Tuesday’s, March 16, 7-1 win over Morehead State at Monongalia County Ballpark.
WVU used the big inning to build a cushion and relied on strong pitching performances to help lock up its first midweek victory of the season. The Mountaineers finished with seven runs on eight hits with no errors, while the Eagles tallied one run on four hits with no errors.
Freshman left-handed pitcher Ben Hampton earned the win in his first career start, improving his record to 2-0 on the year. MSU’s Will Lozinak took the loss. With the win, WVU extended its streak to 15 consecutive midweek, nonconference home wins, dating back to 2017.
“The motto the last week or so has been, ‘Hang tight; we have some cavalry coming,’” WVU assistant coach Steve Sabins said. “We just had to keep it together, and we had to get better, and I think we have. Hopefully, we can get more players back here in the next week or so.”
After Hampton retired the first nine batters he faced, the Mountaineers (6-5) were able to get him a lead in the third. First, freshman infielder Mikey Kluska smacked a three-run triple into the right-field corner, giving the hosts a 3-0 advantage.
From there, sophomore outfielder Victor Scott brought home Kluska on an RBI single, before sophomore infielder/outfielder Dominic Ragazzo followed suit, singling to left to score another run.
Morehead State (7-8) cut into the lead in the top of the fourth with a solo home run, the first hit Hampton allowed on the day. From there, though, the De Pere, Wis., native remained effective, finishing with four strikeouts and just two hits allowed in four innings of work.
In the eighth, WVU added to its lead with two more runs.
Next up, the Mountaineers and Eagles close out a two-game, midweek series Wednesday, March 17, at Monongalia County Ballpark. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
