West Virginia Shut Out Kansas in Game 1

The Mountaineers bury Jayhawks 11-0

The West Virginia Mountaineers hammered the Kansas Jayhawks 10-0 in game one of the three-game Big 12 Conference opening series on Friday night.

Hudson Byorick put the Mountaineers on the board first, dropping the 1-1 pitch over well over the right-centerfield wall a leadoff home run. Then Vince Ippoliti flared a single into right field and advanced to second on a hit and run with Mikey Kluska getting a piece of an off-speed pitch, put the ball on the ground over to third before Braden Barry dropped a line drive into centerfield to bring in Ippoliti to give West Virginia the early 2-0 advantage.

West Virginia tacked on another run in the first after Austin Davis went opposite and dropped a base hit into right field – stole second at the first opportunity, Tyler Doanes drew a walk, and Matt McCormick hit a sharp ground ball that Kansas first basemen Dylan Ditzenberger couldn’t handle it and loaded the bases. Then, Victor Scott put the ball on the ground for a fielder’s choice, platting Davis.

The Mountaineers kept it going in the sixth when Paul McIntosh ripped a leadoff double down the third baseline, and Kluska moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt. Then, with two outs, Austin Davis hit a rope through the left side for an RBI single, and again, stole second before Tyler Doanes hit a ground-rule double, scoring Davis. That ended the night for Kansas starting pitcher Ryan Cyr as head coach Ritch Price went to his bullpen for left-hander Nathan Berry. He proceeded to walk back-to-back batters to load the bases before Byorick hit an RBI single to put the Mountaineers up 6-0.

The West Virginia bats continued to stay hot in the seventh. Paul McIntosh led the inning off with a solo blast well over the left field wall to push the lead to seven. Mikey Kluska laced a single into left field, and Austin Davis hit a deep line drive into right-center for an RBI double. Tyler Doanes was delivered four straight balls to put runners at first and second and advanced on a deep sacrifice fly from Matt McCormick. Then, Victor Scott collected his first hit of the night, dropping a two-RBI single into centerfield as the Mountaineers held a 10-0 advantage.

West Virginia starting pitcher Jackson Wolf went 7.1 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and allowing four hits and walking two.

Skylar Gonzalez came in relief in the eighth and got consecutive ground outs to end the inning.

The Mountaineers added another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Nathan Blasick after Ippoliti and Kluska drew walks as the Mountaineers extended the lead to 11. 

Beau Lowery closed the game with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth as the Mountaineers held on for the 11-0 shutout.

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