The West Virginia Mountaineers had their much anticipated Big 12 home opener on Friday night, but were unable to overcome four early Kansas runs, eventually falling to the Jayhawks 5-3.
Kansas scored four runs in the first three innings, then would not score again until the ninth inning but the early deficit was too much for WVU to overcome.
Kansas threatened in the first inning, getting the bases loaded with two out on a single, followed by two walks but WVU starting pitcher Ben Hampton worked out of the early trouble with a strikeout to end the inning.
The Jayhawks led off the second inning with a home run by Jake English. Jackson Cobb followed the homer with a single, but two outs had Hampton with the chance to get through the second inning with minimal damage. Chase Jans had other ideas, as he launched the second Jayhawks home run of the inning over the left field fence to cap a three run second inning.
The Mountaineers threatened in the bottom half of the inning, getting the first two hitters of the inning on base, but three straight strikeouts had West Virginia down 3-0 after two innings.
Janson Reeder hit a lead-off double to start the third, followed by a Kodey Shojinaga single to move him to third. Kansas wouldn’t need to get another ball in play to score their fourth run of the game, as a wild pitch by Hampton allowed Reeder to score.
WVU used a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning to get back into the game, with three straight doubles by Dayne Leonard, Caleb McNeely and Grant Hussey to plate two runners.
Hampton hit the first Jayhawk batter of the fifth inning, then Jans singled for his second hit of the game to threaten again. Hampton would get the double play he needed in an unconventional way, on a fly ball to right field that doubled up Jans on first base. That would be the end of Hampton’s day, after 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out four.
The Mountaineers got one run closer in the sixth inning, on a Landon Wallace lead-off home run to cut the deficit to 4-3. Three straight strikeouts would end the inning with WVU still trailing by one.
West Virginia would get the tying run in scoring position in both the seventh and eighth innings, but fail to score.
Cole Elvis gave the Jayhawks an insurance run with their third home run of the game in the top of the ninth inning to take a 5-3 advantage.
WVU got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two outs after a Caleb McNeely walk, but Grant Hussey struck out looking to end the game.
Grant Hussey led the Mountaineers in hits for the second straight game, getting three hits including an RBI double. Dayne Leonard and Caleb McNeely both added two hits, with McNeely also adding an RBI double.
Freshman pitcher Maxx Yehl came out of the bullpen in relief of Hampton and went 3.1 scoreless innings, striking out three batters.
