WVU Defeats No. 24 Clemson in Opener
February 13, 2015 06:18 PM | General
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CLEMSON, S.C. – The West Virginia University baseball team defeated No. 24 Clemson, 2-0, in the 2015 season opener on Friday evening at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
It was the first season-opening victory since 2012 for the Mountaineers and the first season-opening victory under coach Randy Mazey. Freshman right-hander BJ Myers and junior right-hander Blake Smith combined for a six-hit shutout in their first career appearances, striking out 10 batters.
“We went into the season with question marks on the mound and two question marks turned into exclamation points today with BJ Myers in his first college game shutting out a Top 25 team," Mazey said. "Blake Smith went out there and just shoved it tonight. Win, lose or draw, those were the brightest spots of the game for me."
West Virginia broke the scoreless game in the seventh inning as junior centerfielder KC Huth made it 1-0, scoring on a wild pitch. Huth reached on a one-out fielder’s choice and then advanced to third on a successful hit-and-run by senior third baseman Justin Fox. Fox then stole second base and Huth scored on a wild pitch, while Fox was tagged out trying to score from second on the same wild pitch.
Sophomore catcher Ray Guerrini made it 2-0 in the top of the eighth after drawing a leadoff walk. Guerrini then stole second, advanced to third on a fly out to right field by freshman pinch hitter Kyle Davis and scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by senior shortstop Taylor Munden.
"We're going to play a lot of games just like this if we pitch well, so every little play makes a difference,"Mazey said. "We scored on a wild pitch with two outs and Taylor Munden gets a sac fly with two strikes off a really good pitcher. We executed tonight and if we keep doing that and getting the pitching, then we have a chance to have a good year."
Myers pitched 5.0 shutout innings for the Mountaineers, taking the no-decision. Myers allowed four hits with five strikeouts and four walks, while stranding eight runners. Smith picked up the win in 4.0 innings of shutout relief, allowing two hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
"The fastball felt good in the bullpen. I had a couple of my pitches going. I was just really confident with my fastball today," Smith said. "It's a huge boost for us and we're ready to go now that we know we can go in and compete against a good team."
The loss was given to reliever Alex Bostic, who allowed one run on two hits in 1.0 inning. Clemson starting pitcher Matthew Crownover also took a no-decision, allowing no runs on three hits in 6.0 innings. Crownover struck out eight with no walks.
Fox led all WVU players with a 3-for-3 performance, while six different Clemson players had one hit apiece.
West Virginia and Clemson return to action on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Mountaineers will send junior left-hander Ross Vance to the mound and he will face Clemson left-hander Zack Erwin.
Links to live video, live audio and live stats are available at WVUsports.com.
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