WVU Ties Series in Offensive Attack
February 21, 2015 05:23 PM | General
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STATESBORO, Ga. – The West Virginia University baseball team used runs in six-consecutive innings and 16 strikeouts by its pitchers in a 12-4 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium.
After taking the loss in his season opener, Vance (1-1) returned to form, allowing three runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts and one walk in 6.1 innings.
Freshman right-hander Conner Dotson pitched 2.2 innings of relief and gave up one run on three hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.
“They made some big pitches when it really counted with men on base,” coach Randy Mazey said. “The hits they gave up were a lot of ground balls between guys. I thought Ross was pretty sharp today and Dotson’s getting some valuable experience in pretty tight games against pretty offensive teams.”
Senior shortstop Taylor Munden went 3-for-4 and was a triple shy of the cycle, while senior third baseman Justin Fox and senior right fielder Brad Johnson each notched their first career home runs. Freshman left fielder Kyle Davis batted 3-for-4 with two runs and one double. Fox had three extra-base hits and scored three times.
West Virginia (3-2) finished with 12 runs on 14 hits with no errors and Georgia Southern (4-2) scored four runs on 10 hits with two errors.
“The thing about today was coming off the loss yesterday, the seniors had great days,” Mazey said. “Johnson had a couple of hits, Fox had three extra-base hits and Taylor had a great day. When you lose the first game of the series you need leadership to get back into it and that’s what you need your seniors to do. That’s what we asked those guys to do and they really produced for us today.”
Georgia Southern took a 1-0 lead after one inning, but it did not last long as Fox notched his first career home run in the top of the second. Fox’s one-out home run went to left field and hit the top of the scoreboard.
Sophomore catcher Ray Guerrini gave West Virginia a 2-1 lead in the top of the third thanks to some heads up base-running. After getting hit by a pitch, Guerrini advanced to second and third on a throwing error following a failed pickoff attempt by the Georgia Southern catcher. Guerrini later scored on a wild pitch.
Guerrini made it 4-1 in the top of the fourth with a double down the left field line, scoring Fox and Davis.
The Eagles cut the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth, but the Mountaineers once again delivered in the top of the fifth with a two-run inning to bring their lead to 6-3. Johnson led off the inning with his first career home run, wrapping a line drive around the left field foul pole, and Davis hit a two-out RBI single through the left side to score Fox.
Sophomore first baseman Jackson Cramer extended the lead to 7-3 in the top of the sixth inning with a bases loaded sacrifice fly to center field, scoring freshman designated hitter Caleb Potter from third base.
Munden brought the lead to 10-3 in the top of the seventh with his third hit of the day, a three-run towering home run to left field, scoring Davis and Potter.
West Virginia tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth when Cramer had an RBI single and Fox had an RBI double, bringing the score to 12-4.
The loss was issued to Georgia Southern starter Adam Kelly (0-1), who allowed two runs on two hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 2.1 innings. Chase Griffin had three hits for the Eagles, including a home run.
The series finale is set for Sunday at noon with sophomore right-hander Chad Donato (1-0) on the bump for the Mountaineers and left-hander Connor Simmons (0-0) on the mound for the Eagles.
Links to live video, live audio and live stats are available at WVUsports.com.
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