No. 16 West Virginia Suffers First Shutout of the Season, Falls in Opener to Kansas

Granville, WV – The No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers (40-11, 19-7) dropped the series opener to the Kansas Jayhawks (40-14, 18-10) Thursday night 3-0.

Kansas took the early lead in the first when junior Derek Cerda ripped a leadoff double to right-centerfield. West Virginia starting pitcher Griffin Kirn beaned sophomore Brady Ballinger to put two on with no outs. Then, senior Jackson Hauge hit a deep fly to advance Cerda to third before senior Brady Counsell brought in the run with a fielder’s choice to short.

Kansas starting pitcher Dominic Voegele faced the minimum in two and two thirds before senior Brodie Kresser hit a two-out single in the third.

West Virginia threatened to put a run on the board in the fourth after senior Kyle West hit a leadoff single through the right side, moved to second on a passed ball and made it to third on a grounder to short, but the Mountaineers could not scratch a run across.

The Mountaineers put pressure on Voegele in the fifth, but the sophomore again came away unscathed.

Voegele tossed seven scoreless innings and recorded six strikeouts on the night.

Griffin Kirn went eight innings and allowed two runs on seven hits and registered 10 strikeouts.  

Kansas added insurance runs in the eighth and the ninth. Redshirt senior Michael Brooks hit a solo home run in the eighth and senior Ian Francis followed with a hit a solo home run in the ninth as the Jayhawks take game one 3-0.

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