JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The West Virginia University baseball team opened the Steve Sabins era with a 4-2 victory over Jacksonville, Friday evening from John Sessions Stadium.
 
Senior Griffin Kirn was stellar in his Mountaineers debut on the mound, tossing 5.2 innings while allowing one run and striking out five. Sophomore Chase Meyer struck out two in a scoreless inning and graduate student Jack Kartsonas had three punchouts in 1.2 innings. Senior Reese Bassinger earned the save by inducing a game-ending double play on his only pitch of the game.
 
At the plate, junior Logan Sauve, junior Skylar King, senior Brodie Kresser, and sophomore Armani Guzman each had two hits. Sauve, Guzman, senior Kyle West, and sophomore Michael Perazza all drove in a run.
 
The Mountaineers got off to a fast start as Sauve and White led off the game with back-to-back singles before both came home to score on a pair of productive outs, a groundout from West and a sacrifice fly by Perazza.
 
WVU added two more runs in the second on a pair of RBI singles by Guzman and Sauve. For Guzman, it was the first RBI of his career.
 
Kirn did not allow a hit until the fifth inning, getting some help from his defense, most notably a sliding catch by Guzman in right field.
 
The Dolphins put a run on the board in the fifth and had their biggest threat of the game in the seventh, putting runners on second and third with nobody out. Meyer responded with a pair of strikeouts before Kartsonas came out of the bullpen and stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout.
 
In the ninth, Bassinger came on to pitch with the tying run at the plate and got a 6-4-3 double play to secure the victory.
 
The two teams will be back on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.