Aidan Major was great for 7.2 innings on Thursday, while West Virginia’s offense gave him more than enough run support, as the Mountaineers beat BYU, 10-4 in their Big 12 opener.
“He’s learned, and learned, and learned. He’s always had good stuff, but you have to learn how to win games. He’s still learning but he’s made great progress as far as winning games,” West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey said of Major.
At the newly named Kendrick Family Ballpark at the Monongalia County Baseball Complex, the Mountaineers welcomed new Big 12 foe BYU and the new name with a win in their first conference game of the season.
WVU got good news before the game as the Mountaineers got Brodie Kresser back into the starting lineup, after he had only appeared in one game since Feb. 23.
The WVU offense would get on the board in the first, after an infield single by Skylar King and a single by Sam White put runners on the corners with one out. Ben Lumsden would ground into a double play, but King touched home before the tag was applied to White at second, and WVU led, 1-0.
One run would seemingly be all what Major (3-0) needed for the majority of the game, as he was great for the second week in a row.
Major piled up three strikeouts through the first three innings, and didn’t allow his first baserunner, until he gave up a single in the third inning. Major was through five innings on 56 pitches, while striking out four in the process.
WVU’s offense came to serious life in the fifth inning, as they plated five.
It started with a walk drawn by Spencer Barnett, before Kresser singled. King then executed a bunt up the third base line that he beat out to first base, loading the bases with one out. Sam White would then deliver a two-run single on an 0-2 count, scoring two. Two batters later, Ellis Garcia hit a single to score another as WVU led, 4-0.
That single would chase BYU starting pitcher Ben Hansen, but the damage wouldn’t be done. On the first pitch he saw from Mason Olson, he hit a two-run single. Olson came into the game with a 0.63 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched.
“Kyle West, he’s into the game. It was a huge hit for us. We get up on these guys, 6-0, they can score six runs so fast it makes your head spin. The bases loaded hit he had off their best reliever was a huge hit; we’ll see that guy again tomorrow,” Mazey said.
Hansen (2-1) finished his outing tossing 4.1 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits, while walking five and striking out one.
WVU’s lead after five was 6-0, and Major would benefit. Major continued to pound the strike zone, tossing a scoreless sixth inning, but ran into trouble in the seventh. Major surrendered a solo home run, before the bases would be loaded with one out. Major got a strikeout and then a fly out to the warning track to get out of the inning.
Major gave up two more long balls in the eighth, a solo home run and a two-run home run, but WVU’s offense plated three in the bottom of the seventh, as WVU kept a comfortable lead.
“Let me just tell you about that BYU team over there, that’s a really good offensive team. A really good team. When this whole thing shakes out and this season is over, they’re going to be one of the top-three hitting teams in this league, I feel certain,” Mazey said. “They smashed a lot of balls today, we did too. But they can really hit, they’re scary.”
Ellis Garcia hit his first home run of the year to start the inning, before Barnett scored Tyler Cox on a single, and Barnett would score on a dropped pop fly by the BYU shortstop.
“He’s been super solid,” Mazey said of Barnett. “Usually, these first 20 games, I’m trying to find opportunities to get young guys in the game. That’s easy this year because half the team is out with injuries, so it’s easy to get young guys in the game. He’s been really solid. Played great defense and has gotten some big hits for us so that bodes well for the future.”
Major finished his outing throwing a career-high eight innings, striking out eight, and giving up four runs on four hits. WVU added one run in the eighth inning as Garcia walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Bryce Amos pitched the ninth inning for the Mountaineers, ending the game on a double play, which he tossed to Kresser, who fired it over to first to seal the victory.
Games two and three of the series against BYU are set to be played in a doubleheader which begins at 2:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
