MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sophomore left-hander Harrison Musgrave of the WVU baseball team was brilliant in his ninth start of the season, leading the Mountaineers to an 8-0 victory over Liberty on Friday evening at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
The win gives WVU a 19-16 overall record and marks the fifth-consecutive Friday win. The Mountaineers pounded out 11 hits to Liberty’s (18-17) four.
"Harrison tonight was as good as he's been all season," coach Randy Mazey says. "He had three pitches going, he had velocity and that was a good game for us. When Harry's on the mound our whole team plays with a ton of confidence."
Musgrave improved his season record to 5-1, throwing seven shutout innings and allowing three hits. Musgrave struck out two and walked two.
"With all three pitches we were able to keep them off balance," Musgrave says. "We got some fly balls and they were trying to take advantage off the fastball early on. Later in the game we threw more breaking balls and they were all working."
Senior right fielder Brady Wilson had a game-high three hits with one run. Sophomore shortstop Taylor Munden and junior third baseman Ryan Tuntland each had two hits with Munden scoring two runs and Tuntland driving in two runs.
Junior first baseman Ryan McBroom gave the Mountaineers an early lead with his team-leading eighth home run of the season. McBroom sent the three-run blast over the left field fence to score Munden and Wilson.
Junior left fielder Jacob Rice extended the lead to 4-0 in the third inning with a single into left center field, scoring Tuntland from second base.
WVU took full control of the game in the top of the eighth with four runs, bringing the lead to 8-0. The inning was highlighted by a two-run single into right field by Tuntland, while sophomore center fielder Bobby Boyd drove in a run with a single to left field.
WVU and Liberty continue the series tomorrow at 4 p.m. A pair of right-handers will take the mound as junior Corey Walter gets the nod for the Mountaineers and senior Brooks Roy will start for Liberty. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.com, while a link to live stats is available on WVUsports.com.
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