It was the first game of the season series between WVU and Utah but also the first ever game in the all-time history of these two schools. The Utes made the weekend trip to Morgantown and would throw one of the league’s best pitchers, Colter McAnelly, against the Mountaineers.
Griffin Kirn took the mound to start the series for WVU and after both teams were scoreless in the first, Kirn would be taken deep by Drake Digiornio in the second inning to give Utah a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Kirn would retire the side on his way to an impressive 14 strikeouts on the night.
The Mountaineers would go without a hit until the third inning when their first two hits came from back-to-back home runs from Kyle West and Jace Rinehart that gave the Mountaineers a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, West Virginia was still holding a 2-1 lead in a pitchers dual. That was until Logan Suave hit his third home run of the season and WVU’s third home run of the game to give the Mountaineers a 3-1 advantage more than halfway through the game.
The defensive battle would continue into the sixth inning when Kirn continued his dominate day striking out the side in order. West Virginia would fail to grow their lead after a couple of pop-outs.
Kirn would allow a single and a double before picking up his 14th and final strikeout of his outing. He would then pulled by head coach Steve Sabins. He finished his day going 6.2 innings while striking out 14 and allowing six hits while walking only one.
Chase Meyer would inherit runners on second and third to replace Kirn and would load up the bases immediately by hitting a batter. That was quickly followed up by a two-RBI single by Austin Roellig to tie the game at 3-3 midway through the seventh inning. Roelligg would finish the game 3-5 at the plate. The runs were added to Kirn’s line, finishing his outing allowing three earned runs.
Meyer would get out of the inning with his first strikeout and the Mountaineers would fail to break to tie before turning it over to the eighth.
Only three batters would come to the plate for Utah in the eighth after a strikeout by Myer, another hit by pitch, and then a double play which ended any rally chance for the Utes.
It was the bottom on the eighth inning that decided the game for the Mountaineers where they would chase McAnelly out of the game after throwing 124 total pitches in 7.1 innings while allowing five hits, four earned runs, and striking out nine.
Grant Hussey, the first batter Jackson Elder would face, made him pay immediately as the senior added to his lead on the all-time WVU home run list with his 41st, giving WVU a 5-3 lead. However, the gold and blue weren’t done there. The very next batter, Spencer Barnett, would rip a double into the gap in right field. After moving to third on a fielder’s choice, Barnett would then score on a wild throw from the catcher to third base and the Mountaineers would extend their lead to 6-3 making them just three outs away from their 25th win.
Meyers was able to close out the ninth inning but not before putting two men on base. Ultimately, it was Meyers’ third strikeout in his 2.1 inning close to secure the win for WVU.
The victory over Utah to start the series improves West Virginia to 25-4 on the season and 5-3 in Big 12 play. The Mountaineers finished the game tallying seven hits to match Utah but had two less errors than the Utes’ three.
Due to expected in climate weather, Sunday’s game in the series has been moved to a double-header on Saturday with the first pitch in the first game set for 1:00 p.m. ET. The second game and series closer will be played immediately after. Both games can be streamed on ESPN+
