Box Score STATESBORO, Ga. (Feb. 17, 2022) – Despite a strong performance from junior left-hander Ben Hampton, the West Virginia baseball team dropped a tight 4-3 contest to Georgia Southern, Friday night at J.I. Clements Stadium, to open up the 2023 season.
 
Hampton collected eight strikeouts in 6.0 innings and left the game in the seventh with a 3-1 lead. However, a couple of walks by the bullpen and a defensive miscue hurt the Mountaineers as the Eagles put up three runs in the inning to take a lead they would not give up.
 
"Hampton was great, but other than that, we didn't play very well," said head coach Randy Mazey. "Offensively, we did some things okay, but we had a few errors, six walks, and a couple of hit-by-pitches. It's early, we'll figure that stuff out, but it's a tough one to lose having the lead late in the game."
 
Junior Landon Wallace led the Mountaineers offensively in his WVU debut, going 2-for-4 with a triple, an RBI, and a run scored on a steal of home. Sophomore JJ Wetherholt also added two hits as did redshirt-senior Dayne Leonard.
 
The Eagles jumped out to a lead in the second without a hit before Hampton settled down to retire the next 11 consecutive batters.
 
West Virginia took the lead in the fourth as Wallace knocked a triple off the wall to score sophomore Evan Smith from first to tie the game before Wallace pulled off a straight steal of home. On the night, WVU stole four bases to pick up where they left off last year when it finished second in the nation in stolen bases.
 
The Mountaineers tacked on another run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Grant Hussey.
 
Hampton got into some trouble in the sixth as GSU had runners on first and third with nobody out, but the junior buckled down and struck out the next three batters to maintain a two-run lead for the Mountaineers.
 
The West Virginia bullpen could not replicate that magic in the seventh, however, as the Eagles scored three runs to take a 4-3 lead.
 
In the ninth, the Mountaineers threatened with runners on first and second and one out, but Georgia Southern put on the finishing touches of opening day with a strikeout and line out to secure its victory.
 
The two teams will meet again tomorrow for game two at 2 p.m. Fifth-year senior Blaine Traxel is scheduled to get the start on the mound for the Mountaineers.
 
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