Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sophomore first baseman Marques Inman continued his hot hitting as the West Virginia University baseball team beat UNLV, 7-5, to win the three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Monongalia County Ballpark.
 
Inman hit his third home run of the series for the Mountaineers (13-15) and went 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs. In the three-game series against the Rebels (23-11), he hit .750 with six hits, five RBIs, five runs scored, a 1.875 slugging percentage and three walks.
 
The top four hitters in WVU's lineup combined for 10 of WVU's 13 hits, five RBIs and six runs scored on Sunday.
 
"Yeah, we needed to hit," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "I've been saying it all along. We're going to start hitting. It's just a matter of getting back home and sleeping in our own beds. Hopefully, the weather will start warming up a little bit. We just haven't hit our rhythm yet offensively, and it's no different than when we stood here last year at the end of March, beginning of April. I'll say the same thing. You play on the road the first month-and-a-half, playing on different fields all the time with different backgrounds, sleeping in different beds. It's just hard to get a rhythm that way. So, in past years, this is about the time when we take off offensively. Hopefully, it'll be the same."
 
The three-game series vs. UNLV was a matchup of two teams ranked in the top-30 of RPI, as West Virginia entered the weekend at No. 25 and UNLV at No. 28.
 
WVU's offensive output included junior leadoff hitter and right-handed starter Braden Zarbnisky, who had a team-high-tying three hits and three runs scored to go along with 5.0 innings on the mound. He gave up two runs, one earned, on six hits with three strikeouts and no walks to improve to 2-1 on the season.
 
"It's pretty rare when a guy throws the first pitch for his team and sees the first pitch from the other team," Mazey added. "There are other two-way guys around the nation, but to be a leadoff guy and steal bases and get hits, that's super valuable. That's why I think he finished, second in the nation in two-way player of the year voting last year. I wouldn't trade him for anything."
 
Along with Zarbnisky and Inman, junior catcher Ivan Gonzalez, batting second, had two hits, two RBIs and a run scored, and junior right fielder Darius Hill, hitting third, had three hits and scored a run. Gonzalez drove in the eventual game-winning run with a sixth-inning single that scored Zarbnisky.
 
For the third time in the series, UNLV scored in the first inning, on a sacrifice fly. However, the Mountaineers answered right back with two runs in the bottom half to take a 2-1 lead on Inman's two-run home run. The long ball scored Zarbnisky, who led off the inning with a single.
 
Both teams left a runner on in the second before West Virginia extended its lead to 3-1 in the third. Back-to-back singles and a walk loaded the bases for junior second baseman Kyle Gray, who reached on a fielder's choice allowing Gonzalez to score.
 
WVU's lead was cut to one in the top of the fifth, but the Mountaineers answered right back with two runs in the bottom half to make it 5-2. Zarbnisky led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on an infield hit by Hill. Inman followed with an RBI single to left-center, and Gray singled up the middle to bring home Hill.
 
The Mountaineers added two more in the sixth, extending their lead to 7-2. A two-out RBI single up the middle by Gonzalez scored both runs, which were unearned after a fielding error to open the frame.
 
Then, UNLV got three runs back in the seventh. The first three runners in the inning reached, before one run reached on a fielding error, another on a walk and the final tally on a fielder's choice.
 
Senior righty Shane Ennis pitched a perfect eighth inning. In the ninth, a runner reached on an error with two outs and a walk put two on, but Ennis got a strikeout to end the game and earn his third save of the year.
 
Up next, West Virginia will play a pair of midweek contests next week, at PNC Park on Tuesday, April 10, against Penn State at 6:30 p.m. ET, and at home on Wednesday, April 11, vs. Pitt, at 6 p.m.
 
The Mountaineers and Nittany Lions meet at PNC Park for the second season in a row, after WVU won last year's inaugural college game at the home of the Pirates, 4-2. Tickets for this year's contest are available at Pirates.com/CollegeBaseball. Mountaineer fans can purchase tickets for $7 by using the promo code "WVU."
 
The following day, WVU hosts Pitt in the Backyard Brawl at Monongalia County Ballpark. Tickets are available at WVUGAME.com, by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, at the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum or on game day at Monongalia County Ballpark. Tickets to the originally-scheduled game, on March 27, will be good for the rescheduled game on April 11. The first 200 fans will receive a free fleece blanket, and all fans can play Baseball Bingo.
 
NOTES: West Virginia improves to 13-15 on the season and 5-2 at home … WVU leads the all-time series vs. UNLV, 6-2, and 2-1 at home … West Virginia improves to 7-3 when scoring in the first inning and 11-7 when hitting at least one home run … Marques Inman hit his seventh career home run, fourth of the season and third of the series in the first inning … In the three-game series, Inman hit .750 with six hits, five RBIs, five runs scored, a 1.875 slugging percentage and three walks … Braden Zarbnisky improved to 2-1, allowing one earned run on six hits in 5.0 innings … Zarbnisky also added three hits and three runs scored in five at-bats.
 
Season tickets, 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.