Box Score CONWAY, S.C. – The West Virginia University baseball team opened the 2022 season with a 13-8 win over No. 16 Central Michigan on Friday at the Baseball at the Beach event at Springs Brooks Stadium.
 
The Mountaineers scored one in the first, six in the third and two each in the fourth, seventh and eighth in the Opening Day victory. WVU finished with 14 hits, while CMU recorded eight runs on 12 hits on the day.
 
Senior left-handed pitcher Beau Lowery earned the win for WVU, while the Chippewas' Jordan Patty took the loss.
 
"You never know how the first game of the year is going to go," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "That game couldn't have gone better. We got out to a big lead early, had some freshmen step up – guys that we're going to have to count on – and with a big lead, you get a chance to get some other guys in the game to get their feet wet."
 
WVU (1-0) wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, as freshman infielder JJ Wetherholt socked a solo home run to left in the top of the first. The big fly came on the Mars, Pennsylvania, native's first career at-bat.
 
CMU (0-1) answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, first on a leadoff homer and then on a two-out, RBI base hit. With the bases loaded, however, sophomore right-handed pitcher Carlson Reed, who made his first career Opening Day start for the Mountaineers, was able to record a strikeout to end the inning.
 
Wetherholt was at it again in the top of the third, smacking a two-run double to help WVU retake the lead, 3-2. That led to a big blast off the bat of freshman infielder Grant Hussey, whose first career hit went over the left-field wall for a grand slam.
 
The slam marked WVU's first since Kevin Brophy on Feb. 24, 2018, against Illinois in Conway, South Carolina.
 
West Virginia totaled six runs in the third inning to grab a 7-2 advantage.
 
Senior outfielder Austin Davis added to the lead in the fourth with an RBI single, scoring redshirt junior catcher/infielder Dayne Leonard. Moments later, it was junior outfielder Victor Scott II's turn, producing a run-scoring infield single to make it 9-2.
 
On the mound, Reed struck out four in 2.2 innings of work, before Lowery, senior right-hander Zach Ottinger, junior lefty Kevin Dowdell and redshirt junior right-hander Noah Short combined to allow just one hit from the end of the third inning to the seventh.
 
The Mountaineers added two more in the top of the seventh, thanks to an RBI groundout by sophomore infielder Mikey Kluska and a pinch-hit, RBI double by freshman infielder/outfielder Evan Smith. In the eighth, Davis and Wetherholt each collected their third hits of the day to extend the lead to 13-2. Davis drove in redshirt junior infielder Tevin Tucker on a double to left, while Wetherholt recorded an RBI single to left.
 
The Chippewas scored three in the bottom of the eighth and three more in the ninth but couldn't complete their comeback bid, grounding into a double play to end the game.
 
Wetherholt finished 3-for-5 with two extra-base hits and four RBI in his collegiate debut, while Davis also registered three hits, scored three runs and drove in two. In all, nine of the club's 13 RBI on the day came off the bat of a freshman.
 
WVU improved to 5-5 in season openers under Mazey, including four wins on the last five Opening Days. Additionally, the Mountaineers' 13 runs were the most to begin a season since a 14-4 win over Indiana on Feb. 20, 2009.
 
Next up, West Virginia takes on Kent State on Saturday morning, as play at the Baseball at the Beach event continues. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. ET, at Springs Brooks Stadium.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.