On a mild weathered day in Morgantown, West Virginia, the Mountaineers sought to keep their undefeated streak alive in a hard-fought matchup against Kennesaw State at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
The Mountaineers started the first inning on defense, and they were solid. Griffin Kirn got the start and started the game on a tear. Kirn racked up two strikeouts and, despite an overthrow to second, allowed a player to make it to third base. The Mountaineers held their ground and got the final out to send West Virginia up to bat. However, the Mountaineer bats were cold.
The second inning was all about Griffin Kirn. Kirn racked up two more strikeouts, making it four on the day, and a fly out to Skylar King in right-centerfield kept the Owls scoreless after two innings. The Mountaineer bats, however, continued to struggle as Gavin Kelly grounded out to first. But it was standout hitter Skylar King who managed to get on base after an overthrow to first by the shortstop. The errors did not stop there for the Owls; a catcher interference, followed by a wild pitch, put Skylar King in scoring position as he moved up to third base. The Mountaineers seemed to be fueled by this two-out rally as Chase Swain came up to bat and ripped a single to get the Mountaineers on the board going into the third.
The Mountaineers kept the ball rolling in the third as Griffin Kirn started the inning with his fifth strikeout as the batter went down swinging. As the momentum for the Owls had seemingly vanished, the Owls summed up the strength to get themselves back into the game. Outfielder Jackson Chirello hit a 375-yard bomb over the right-field fence to put the Owls on the board and tie the game at one apiece. The Mountaineers came up to bat with determination, Sam White hit a monster double down the first base line to bring in another scorer, making the score 2-1 for the Mountaineers. The very next at bat, Jace Reinhart would hit a monster two run home run to make the once tied up score, 4-1 in favor of the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers did not let up from here, after Kirn’s sixth strikeout and two easy outs, the Mountaineers would hold Kennesaw State scoreless in the fourth inning. Skylar King kept up his dominant hitting performance, hitting a floater to right field for an easy single. The momentum only got greater as Chase Swain rifled a single down the first baseline, and Hussey outran his infield grounder and got on base by the hair of his chin while tallying an RBI as King scored. This game was filled with drama, Kennesaw State had two different players get hurt, and then Chase Swain was called out at the plate. After review, however, it was confirmed Swain was safe, and the Mountaineers closed out a long and dramatic fourth inning, leading 6-1.
The Owls would start the fifth inning off on a high note as Donovan Kash crushed a home run over the centerfield fence to cut the Owl’s deficit down to four. But, it would be the Mountaineers who would have the last laugh as after a quick three outs they would get back on the bats with Michael Perazza. While Perazza’s bat remained quiet, Gavin Kelly’s bat was vocal as he hit a ground ball up the middle for a single. After a quick two outs following Gavin Kelly’s hit, West Virginia ends the fifth inning with a 6-2 lead.
The drama from the fourth continued in the sixth as Kennesaw State’s Wesley Alig was called safe on first after a sacrifice bunt. Upon further review, however, he was called out on first base. Griffin Kirn walked Aaron Posey and was taken out of the game after an exceptional outing on the mound, tallying six strikeouts on 93 pitches thrown. His reliever, Reese Bassinger, had a rocky start as he hit his first batter with a pitch, resulting in bases loaded for the Owls. Bassinger managed to secure his first strike out of the day. This would help get the Mountaineers out of a rough inning and go up to bat still leading 6-2. The Mountaineers had a brief stint at the plate as Hussey and Kresser flew out to centerfield and Sauve grounded out to third to close out the sixth inning.
On defense, the Mountaineers made quick work of the Owls in the seventh inning, securing two quick outs as Suto and Williams flew out and lined out. Following a fly out to left field by Anderson. The Mountaineers boast yet another scoreless half-inning and remain in control of the 6-2 ballgame. To lead off their seventh-inning batting campaign, Sam White hit a double off of the right field wall, and then Reinhart hit a single through the right side. After Reinhart smashed a single through the right side of the Kennesaw defense, the Owls made a pitching change, but so did the Mountaineers, putting Ellis Garcia in as a pinch hitter and Garcia showed up as he hit a floater over the third baseman getting himself on base and drove Sam White in for another run adding to the Mountaineer’s lead. Then a golden opportunity became available as not only did the Mountaineers load up the bases, but, Skylar King came up to bat. King took full advantage of this opportunity as he hit an RBI single into left field, scoring two, making the score 9-2 in favor of the Mountaineers. The scoring did not stop there as Gavin Kelly scored on a fielders choice and Skylar King scored on a single by Brodie Kresser, a Logan Sauve double where Hussey scored, a Sam White single where Kresser scored, Jorge Valdez RBI single that brought in two to end off the inning and propel the Mountaineers score to a 15-2 lead over the Owls.
The Mountaineers maintained their defensive consistency as Yoak Bryant struck out the first batter of the inning. That strikeout was followed by a groundout and yet another strikeout to close out the first half of the eighth inning. Skylar King led off the eighth inning with a double off of the outfield wall for his fourth hit of the day, but Kyle West followed it up with a ground out to end the eighth.
The Mountaineers closed out the ninth inning in dominant fashion, keeping their undefeated season alive as they improved to 13-0. The Mountaineers play against the same Kennesaw State team tomorrow at Kendrick Family Ballpark with first pitched scheduled for 2pm.
