Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Back-to-back four-run innings to open the game propelled the West Virginia University baseball team to a 9-5 victory over Maryland on Tuesday night at Monongalia County Ballpark.
 
The Mountaineers (23-19) stormed out to an 8-0 lead, thanks to four runs in the first and another four in the second. The win is WVU's third in a row and seventh in its last nine games.
 
West Virginia scored nine runs on nine hits and benefited from three errors by the Terrapins (19-25). Eight WVU starters reached base and six had at least one hit in the victory. The offensive output was led by junior second baseman Kyle Gray, who had two hits and an RBI and extended his career-long and team-leading hit streak to 19 consecutive games and his reached-base streak to 20 games. Junior shortstop Jimmy Galusky also had two hits and an RBI and hit his sixth home run of the season in the eighth inning.
 
"In the last couple of weeks, our short game, our small ball game has really helped us," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "We have guys that are really good at bunting and running. We haven't been good at it as a team, until recently. For the Marshall game, we led off with bunt, bunt, bunt in the first inning. We go bases loaded with nobody out, and tonight we laid down two or three bunts, put pressure on the defense and people don't like that. When you have a guy at home plate that can really run, who lays down a bunt, it makes them rush and do different things. We scored a lot of runs that way early, which is encouraging that we can do that."
 
On the mound, junior right-hander Christian Young had a strong start to earn his third victory of the season. In 5.0 innings, he allowed no runs on just two hits with four strikeouts and a walk to improve to 3-1. After the Terrapins scored five runs in the sixth inning off the WVU bullpen, senior right-hander Shane Ennis pitched 2.1 no-hit innings and freshman righty Tristen Hudson picked up the final two outs of the game.
 
The Mountaineers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, scoring first for the 23rd time this year and in the first for the 19th time. WVU sent eight to the plate in the frame and benefited from three errors and two hits. Junior left fielder Braden Zarbnisky led off the inning with a walk, and sophomore center fielder Brandon White reached on a fielding error on a sacrifice bunt attempt. A successful sac bunt followed to move Zarbnisky and White up 90 feet for sophomore first baseman Marques Inman, who reached on another fielding error to allow both runners to score. Gray followed with an RBI double to left, and he scored the inning's final run when he advanced to third on a wild pitch and took home on an errant throw to third.
 
With a 4-0 advantage, Young responded with a 1-2-3 second inning, and the West Virginia offense picked up right where it left off in the bottom half. WVU again sent eight to the plate and scored another four runs on four hits to take an 8-0 lead.
 
Gray and Zarbnisky led off the second with back-to-back singles and were successfully bunted to second and third. A walk to junior left fielder Darius Hill loaded the bases for Inman, who doubled to the warning track in center to score Gray and Zarbnisky. With two outs, freshman third baseman Tyler Doanes doubled to the wall in left-center to bring home Inman and Hill.
 
Young did not allow a hit in the third and pitched a 1-2-3 fourth. He gave up a two-out double in the fifth for Maryland's second hit of the game, but he escaped the jam.
 
Maryland got on the board in the sixth inning off the West Virginia bullpen. UMD scored five runs, one unearned, on three hits. A bases-loaded single was followed by a bases-clearing double to bring in three runs. The final run came on a throwing error following a wild pitch.
 
A strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play helped senior right-handed reliever Shane Ennis escape a two-on, one-out jam in the seventh, and a 4-6-3 double play in the eighth saw Ennis face the minimum.
 
Galusky's home run to lead off the eighth provided an insurance run and gave WVU a 9-5 lead. It was his sixth of the year and 11th of his career.
 
Ennis got a flyout to start the ninth before freshman right-hander Tristen Hudson came in to get the final two outs of the game.
 
Ennis had a strong relief outing. In 2.1 innings, he gave up no runs on no hits with a strikeout and two walks.
 
West Virginia travels to Kansas from May 4-6, for a three-game Big 12 series in Lawrence, Kansas. First pitch of Friday's opener is at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT, while Saturday's contest begins at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT. Sunday's finale is set for 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT.
 
NOTES: West Virginia improves to 23-19 on the season and 13-6 at home … WVU has won three in a row, four of its last five and seven of its last nine … The Mountaineers have won three in a row vs. Maryland and improve to 27-39-1 in the all-time series and 11-6-1 at home … West Virginia improved to 17-6 when scoring first and 14-5 when scoring in the first inning … Kyle Gray extended his team-best and career-long hit streak to 19 games, while his reached-base streak is at 20 games … Additionally, Braden Zarbnisky (19 games), Darius Hill (18) and Marques Inman (17) extended their career-long reached-base streaks … Jimmy Galusky hit his sixth home run of the season and 11th of his career in the eighth inning … Christian Young improved to 3-1 on the season.
 
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.