WVU Outplays Towson 8-3

The Mountaineers (5-3) enjoyed their Wednesday afternoon at Monongalia County Ballpark, besting the Towson Tigers (1-6) 8-3. With the temperatures in the upper 50’s at first pitch, West Virginia played a comfortable game they were in control of from start to finish.

In the bottom of the 1st, the Mountaineers jumped out to 3-0 lead after Tristen Hudson grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop that allowed Tyler Doanes to score. The next batter, Andrew Zitel, hit a sharp single back up the middle that allowed Hudson and Ivan Gonzalez to cross the plate to give WVU an early lead they would never relinquish.

West Virginia added another run in the bottom of the 2nd and 3rd innings, after a sacrifice fly to right field by Tevin Tucker scored Brandon White and Darius Hill hit a solo home run to left field, putting the Mountaineers up 5-0.

Andrew Zitel, who had 3 RBI’s in today’s game, hit a roped line drive to left center field in the bottom of the 5th that went for a double and brought Hudson around from 1st to score, extending the West Virginia lead to 6-0.

However, Towson finally got their offense going in the top of the 7th against freshman reliever Zach Ollinger, when Zach Piazza hit a 2-run home run to left field and Colin Conroy grounded out to 2nd and scored Richard Miller from 3rd. This cut the WVU lead in half, making it 6-3.

The Mountaineers responded in the bottom of the 8th, however, as some poor fielding plays by the Tigers allowed Tucker and Zitel to score on an error off the bat of Tyler Doanes putting WVU up 8-3, where the lead would remain for the rest of the contest.

The win puts West Virginia at 5-3 on the young season as they head to west coast to battle the defending national champions, the Oregon State Beavers (8-0) this weekend. This weekend series will be a true challenge for the Mountaineers, as Oregon State is perennially one of the best teams in college baseball. Can the Mountaineers make a statement on the national stage by winning the series in Beaver territory? Follow along here, as Manoah, Wolf and Strowd look to lead WVU to victory over OSU this weekend!

Let’s go, Mountaineers!