Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team held Kansas State to just four hits in a 6-0 shutout victory on Saturday afternoon at Monongalia County Ballpark.
 
The Mountaineers (19-17, 4-7 Big 12) earned their first Big 12 series win of the season and will go for the sweep tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET. WVU has won three in a row and nine of its last 12 games.
 
West Virginia scored six runs on 12 hits while shutting out the Wildcats (16-23, 2-12 Big 12) and turning three double plays. Both teams left nine runners on base and did not commit an error.
 
WVU's offense again was led by sophomore first baseman Marques Inman, who had a team-leading three hits with two RBIs, both coming on two-out run-scoring doubles. In the first two games vs. K-State, Inman has seven hits and three RBIs.
 
"It's not easy to take a year off from seeing live pitching and come back and do what he's doing," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "He's just really, really comfortable at the plate right now. He never panics, and I'm really comfortable in him at the plate. Pitchers are going to have to really pitch and throw strikes to the guy in front of him, because you don't want put guys on base when he's up. We have him sandwiched between Darius (Hill) and Kyle Gray. Both of those guys are swinging it really well. I like where this offense is right now."
 
Sophomore designated hitter Chase Illig hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, his fifth of the year and eighth of his career to join Inman with two RBIs.
 
On the mound, sophomore right-handed starter Kade Strowd picked up the win to improve to 4-3 on the season. He allowed just two hits and no runs while striking out seven and walking seven. Strowd gave up a single in the first and another in the second but did not surrender a base hit the rest of the day.
 
The Mountaineers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Junior shortstop Jimmy Galusky singled with one out and advanced to second when junior left fielder Braden Zarbnisky walked. A double steal followed, putting runners on second and third. Sophomore center fielder Brandon White drove home Galusky with a sacrifice fly to right, while Zarbnisky scored on Inman's first two-out RBI double of the day.
 
Junior catcher Ivan Gonzalez threw out his second batter of the day in the fourth inning as part of a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play, to help Strowd face the minimum in the inning. West Virginia answered right back with four runs in the bottom half to extend its lead to 6-0.
 
Freshman third baseman Tyler Doanes led off the inning with a single to left and scored on Illig's home run to right-center. Gonzalez then doubled and Galusky reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners with no outs. After Kansas State went to its bullpen, Galusky was caught in a rundown between first and second, and while he was eventually picked off, it allowed Gonzalez to score. WVU's fourth run of the inning came on Inman's RBI double with two outs to score White.
 
Strowd left two on in the fifth and issued back-to-back two-out walks in the sixth. That's when sophomore right-hander Cody Wood relieved him, and he got a flyout to end the inning. In the seventh, Wood got a double play to help him face the minimum in the seventh.
 
Freshman right-hander Tristen Hudson stranded two on in the eighth and got a pair of strikeouts in the ninth to finish off the win.
 
The series concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are available at WVUGAME.com or on game day at Monongalia County Ballpark. Sunday is the second trading card giveaway of the season, along with Kids Day, postgame autographs and running the bases, with a new Kids Zone Presented By WVU Medicine Children's and Mr. Twister's Balloon Art and Face Painting.
 
NOTES: West Virginia improves to 19-17 and 4-7 in Big 12 play … WVU has won three in a row and nine of its last 12 games … The Mountaineers lead the all-time series vs. K-State, 10-7, and are 6-2 in Morgantown … West Virginia earned its third shutout of the season and first in Big 12 play … Chase Illig hit his fifth home run of the season and eighth of his career in the fourth inning … Kyle Gray extended his hitting streak to a career-best and team-long 13 games, while Darius Hill extended his streak to 10 straight games … Gray has reached base safely in a team-long 14 games in a row, while Braden Zarbnisky (13) and Hill (12) extended their season-long streaks and Marques Inman stretched his reached-base streak to a career-best 11 games … Kade Strowd improved to 4-3 on the season with 5.2 shutout innings, allowing two hits and no runs.
 
Single game tickets and mini-packages for the 2018 season are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets at WVUGAME.com, call 1-800-WVU GAME or visit the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum. The 2018 schedule, with game times, can be found on the baseball schedule page on WVUsports.com. A printable PDF and schedule breakdown also are available on WVUsports.com.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit WVUsports.com.