Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team fell, 8-4, to Penn State on Wednesday night at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark.
 
The Mountaineers (24-15) scored the game's first three runs on a chilly evening in Morgantown, but the Nittany Lions (18-21) took control in the middle innings and added to their lead late. WVU outhit PSU, 11-10, but allowed eight of the night's final nine runs.
 
Senior right-handed pitcher Zach Ottinger took the loss, evening his record to 1-1 on the year, while Penn State's Mason Mellott was awarded the win.
 
"We just didn't play a good game," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "We got a three-run lead but didn't throw strikes. We swung at ball four – I don't know how many times – to strike out tonight. Any time you think it's going to be easy, this is exactly what happens to you."
 
West Virginia took a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. First, junior outfielder Victor Scott II doubled down the line, plating WVU's first run, before sophomore catcher McGwire Holbrook singled to center to help the hosts double their lead.
 
The Mountaineers tacked on another run in the third to stretch it to 3-0. Then, Penn State tallied six straight runs to take control. PSU scored three in the third, one in the fourth and two in the fifth to make it a 6-3 ballgame.
 
Penn State threatened again in the seventh, getting its first two hitters aboard. But fifth-year senior right-handed pitcher Chase Smith got three straight outs to keep it a three-run game.
 
In the eighth, the Mountaineers loaded the bases and cut the deficit to 2 on redshirt junior infielder Tevin Tucker's fielder's choice. However, the threat was halted with an inning-ending strikeout.
 
Then, PSU scored a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth to bump the lead to 8-4. The Mountaineers went in order in the bottom half.
 
Redshirt junior catcher Dayne Leonard and sophomore infielder Mikey Kluska each had three-hit nights in the loss. Additionally, Scott II finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
On the mound, WVU used 10 pitchers on Wednesday night. Freshman right-hander Aidan Major made his second career start, allowing two earned runs on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 2.1 innings of work.
 
The loss evens the season series between West Virginia and Penn State at 1-1. Earlier in the year, WVU took down the Nittany Lions, 8-4, on April 12, in University Park, Pennsylvania. The setback also snapped the Mountaineers' 22-game midweek, home win streak.
 
Next up, WVU returns to Big 12 Conference play with a three-game series at Kansas from April 29-May 1. First pitch of Friday's series opener at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, Kansas, is set for 7 p.m. ET.
 
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