Box Score LAWRENCE, Kansas – The West Virginia University baseball team slugged a season-best five home runs in a 10-8 win over Kansas on Sunday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark.
 
For the second consecutive day, the Mountaineers showcased their power in the high-scoring victory. WVU finished with 11 hits and scored at least one run in six of nine innings to help the squad secure the Big 12 Conference series.
 
Senior right-handed pitcher Zach Ottinger earned the win out of the bullpen, his second of the year, while fifth-year senior right-hander Trey Braithwaite tallied his sixth save. For Kansas, Ryan Vanderhei took the loss.
 
"This was a good test for our team," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "When you lose the first game of the series, then come back and win it, that's what we needed to do.
 
"We just have to find a way to put everything together. We didn't pitch very well at all (this weekend). But if we could put it all together, then we could be scary. We can't just have one come when the other goes."
 
West Virginia (26-16, 9-6 Big 12) was set up nicely in the top of the first inning of this weekend's rubber game, loading the bases following the first three hitters of the ballgame. The Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead, but the threat was cut short due to a double play and strikeout.
 
Then, WVU doubled its lead in the second on a dropped pop fly. Kansas (18-26, 3-12 Big 12) got the run back in the third, however, scoring its first run of the day to make it 2-1.
 
The Jayhawks added three runs in the fourth to take the lead and chase Mountaineer starting pitcher – fifth-year senior right-hander Zach Bravo – from the game. KU benefited from an RBI double down the line, as well as a two-run home run to take control, 4-2.
 
In the fifth, WVU hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to grab the lead back. A trio of Mountaineers – sophomore catcher McGwire Holbrook, sophomore infielder Nathan Blasick and sophomore outfielder Braden Barry – all left the yard for solo shots to give West Virginia a 5-4 lead.
 
WVU added on when Davis brought another run home on a double in the sixth. But the Jayhawks responded with their own run in the bottom half.
 
West Virginia homered again in the seventh, as freshman infielder Grant Hussey hit a two-run bomb to extend the lead to 8-5. It marked Hussey's third big fly of the series, as well as his team-leading ninth of the season.
 
Barry helped the Mountaineers add some insurance in the ninth inning with his second homer of the day. The Louisville, Kentucky, native socked a two-run shot to left to extend it to 10-5.
 
The homer proved to be needed, as KU tallied a three-run ninth with the game on the line. The Jayhawks even got the tying run to the plate, before Braithwaite got the final out of the game.
 
Along with Ottinger, who allowed one run on three hits with two strikeouts in 2.1 innings, redshirt junior right-hander Noah Short also provided some length out of the bullpen for West Virginia. The Scott Depot, West Virginia, native pitched 3.1 innings with three strikeouts.
 
Offensively, Barry finished 2-for-4 at the plate with the two long balls, three RBI and three runs scored. Holbrook and Hussey also enjoyed multi-hit efforts. Of note, eight of the club's 11 hits went for extra bases.
 
With the win, WVU improved to 18-12 against Kansas in the all-time series.
 
Up next, the Mountaineers return home to play host to Big 12 foe Texas from May 6-8, at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark in Morgantown. First pitch of Friday's series opener is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.