The West Virginia Mountaineers (11-9) will host the Marshall Thundering Herd (6-13) for game two of the three-game season series Wednesday afternoon at Kendricks Family Ballpark. The first pitch is set for 3:35 and the action will stream on ESPN+.
The Mountaineers took the first meeting at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston 11-2 last week. The Herd took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but West Virginia took command of the game with a six-run third inning, highlighted by a three-run home run from Reed Chumley and the senior led the Mountaineers at the plate, going 4-4 with RBIs.
Marshall is currently on a four-game losing streak after dropping all three games in a series with Southern Miss over the weekend.
Senior Owen Ayers has a team-leading five home runs and 14 RBIs this season while seniors Calin Smith and Jack Firestone and junior Elijah Vogelsong are second on the team in RBIs with 10. Smith leads the team with a .288 batting average and Vogelsong is second on the team with four home runs.
West Virginia is coming off a 1-2 series loss to Ohio State. West Virginia grabbed the first game of the series with sophomore Skylar King delivering the go-ahead three-run home run in the seventh to lift the Mountaineers past the Buckeyes. WVU fell in game two 7-4 but was dominated in the series finale 26-11.
West Virginia has dealt with a list of injuries, most notably the best player in college baseball JJ Wetherholt has missed the last 16 games. Sophomore Logan Sauve has been out of the last eight contests and was leading the team with a .317 batting average* and three home runs, and junior Brodie Kresser left game two of the Ohio State series in the middle of an at bat.
Reed Chumley leads the team with a .306 batting average. Sophomore Benjamin Lumsden has recorded a team-high 15 RBIs and is batting .292, a team-best six doubles and is tied with sophomore Ellis Garcia with three home runs, while sophomore Sam White and Garcia are not far behind with 14 and 13 RBIs, respectively. White is second on the team in batting average at .301.
Grant Hussey returned from injury as a designated hitter in the series against Ohio State after missing two games and coming as a pinch-hitter and three games. The junior leads the team with four home runs.
*Minimum requirement of 2 PA/G and 75% of games played
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