West Virgnia Crushes Kennesaw State in the Series Opener

Morgantown, WV – West Virginia junior Sam White went 4-4 with three RBI and senior Jace Rinehart blasted his second home run of the season while as the Mountaineers (13-0) racked up 18 hits to hammer the Kennesaw State Owls (5-10) on Friday 16-2.

West Virginia grabbed the early lead in the second inning after Skylar King reached on an infield single and moved to second on the rare occurrence of a catcher’s balk and took third on a wild pitch before redshirt junior Chase Swain hit a line drive to centerfield for an RBI single and the 1-0 advantage.

Kennesaw State junior Jackson Chirello tied the game at one in the top of the third with a solo home run.

The Mountaineers created separation in the bottom of the frame when junior Logan Sauve worked a one-out walk and White brought him around the base path, ripping the 3-2 pitch down the right field line into the corner for the RBI double. Then, Rinehart drove a two-run home run over centerfield for a 4-1 lead.

After King singled and Swain doubled to leadoff the fourth, senior Grant Hussey hit a hard ground ball up the middle and grazed off the glove of senior reliver Smith Pinson to short and beat the RBI single. Then, White hit an RBI sacrifice fly for the 6-1 WVU lead.

Graduate senior Donovan Cash hit Kennesaw State smacked a one out home run in the fifth to cut the Mountaineer lead to four, 6-2.

West Virginia broke the game open with a nine-run seventh inning and added another run in the eighth to cruise to the 16-2 decision.

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