CORVALLIS, Ore. — No. 6 Oregon State chased Alek Manoah with an early seven-run outburst to dominate West Virginia 9-2 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series.
Kyler McMahan drove in three runs for the Beavers (9-0), who improved to
59-6 at home over the past three seasons.
The Mountaineers (5-4) had not surrendered more than five runs in any of their first eight games, but this one got away quickly as the defending national champs sent 13 batters to the plate in the second inning.
Manoah (1-1) entered with a 0.73 ERA and worked around a first-inning walk. The 6-foot-6 right-hander wasn’t so fortunate in the second inning, when he twice hit batters with the bases loaded and allowed two more runs to score on wild pitches. His throwing error also factored into Oregon State’s big inning. He was done after two innings and 60 pitches, allowing seven runs (four earned) on four hits and three walks.
Kevin Abel (2-0) limited West Virginia to a run on one hit over six innings, while striking out 11.
Ivan Gonzalez homered in the eighth for WVU, his second of the season.
