Box Score MANHATTAN, Kansas – The West Virginia University baseball team ground out a 4-3, 11-inning win over Kansas State on Friday night at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas.
 
Senior left-handed pitcher Jackson Wolf provided one of the best performances of his career, while the Mountaineers proved to be opportunistic late in the series-opening win. WVU (15-16, 6-7 Big 12) finished with four runs on eight hits with an error, while the Wildcats (21-16, 4-9 Big 12) tallied three runs on six hits with two errors.
 
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jacob Watters earned the win, his third of the year, in relief. K-State's Tyler Eckberg took the loss.
 
"When Wolf pitches the way he does and you use Watters for three innings, you can't lose that game," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "When they tied it in the bottom of the ninth, it can take the wind out of your sails, but our guys found a way to come back and score a big run."
 
Wolf retired the first six hitters he faced in the first and second innings and allowed just one hit through his first three innings of work. In the fourth, K-State got a runner to third before senior infielder Tyler Doanes was able to snag a sharp, line drive to end the frame.
 
The Mountaineers registered their first hit of the evening in the top of the fifth off the bat of redshirt junior catcher/outfielder Vince Ippoliti. Then, sophomore catcher/infielder Matt McCormick gave WVU the lead with an RBI single to left. That started a three-run, four-hit inning for the visitors, which also saw fifth-year senior infielder Kevin Brophy and freshman infielder Mikey Kluska drive in runs.
 
Meanwhile, Wolf continued to roll, retiring the Wildcats in order again in the fifth. In the sixth, K-State made it a 3-1 game when the Wildcats scored their first run after a single and Mountaineer fielding error in the outfield.
 
KSU made it a one-run game in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run. Still, Wolf continued on, working all the way into the bottom of the ninth.
 
The Gahanna, Ohio, native finished with career highs in innings pitched (8.0), strikeouts (10) and pitches (128) in the no decision. He allowed three runs on six hits.
 
"He's been pretty close to this the last four weekends," Mazey said of Wolf. "He's making really good hitters look bad right now. He is pitching as well as he has in his career here."
 
Following Wolf's exit in the ninth, K-State tied the game at 3 with an RBI groundout to send the game into extras.
 
After the Mountaineers stranded runners on second and third in the top of the 10th, Watters retired the side in order to send the game into the 11th. That's when WVU regained the lead after McCormick doubled, advanced to third on a ground out and scored thanks to a K-State throwing error.
 
Moments later, Watters slammed the door on the Mountaineer win. The Rocky Gap, Virginia, native finished with a career-high 3.0 innings of work, striking out six without allowing a hit.
 
Offensively, McCormick finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored in the win. The Orland Park, Illinois, native also stole a base.
 
With the win, West Virginia improved to 13-9 all-time against the Wildcats, including 7-6 in Manhattan.
 
Next up, the two teams meet in the middle game of the weekend series on Saturday night. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. ET.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.