HICKORY, N.C. (March 14, 2023) – The West Virginia baseball team had an offensive outburst on Tuesday as the Mountaineers defeated App State, 18-1, at L.P. Frans Stadium. WVU improves to 11-4 with its fifth straight win while App State falls to 8-6.
Sophomore JJ Wetherholt led the way at the plate, going 5-for-6 with two doubles, six RBI, two runs scored, and two stolen bases. Freshman Ellis Garcia added three hits and four RBI while redshirt-seniors Dayne Leonard, Caleb McNeely, Tevin Tucker, and sophomore Grant Hussey each knocked in two runs as well. Overall, the Mountaineers had 15 hits which marked a new season high.
On the mound, sophomore Aidan Major got his first start of the season and threw 4.0 hitless innings with five strikeouts while allowing one run. Freshman Carson Estridge earned the win by throwing 1.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Freshmen Cole Fehrman, Maxx Yehl, sophomore Will Watson, and senior Kevin Dowdell closed out the game with 3.2 combined hitless innings and five strikeouts.
WVU was held without a baserunner for the first two innings while App State grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the second. The tide changed in the third as the Mountaineers scored four runs in an inning for the first of three times on the day. The third inning was all about small ball as WVU scored their runs with the help of two bunt singles and two sacrifice flies sandwiched around an RBI single by Wetherholt.
In the fourth, Tucker added his second bunt RBI with a single before Wetherholt tacked on a run with a single. Leonard knocked in a third run of the inning on a groundout while McNeely capped the inning with an RBI single.
The Mountaineers scored three runs in the fifth, all of which came off the bat of Wetherholt who hit a bases-loaded double.
Freshman Tré Keels got his first career hit in the sixth with a double before coming around to score on a sacrifice fly from Garcia.
West Virginia put the finishing touches on the game with four more runs in the seventh as Wetherholt hit an RBI double, Hussey a two-run single, and Garcia a run-scoring single.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow on App State’s campus in Boone, N.C. First pitch from Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium is set for 3 p.m.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Sophomore JJ Wetherholt led the way at the plate, going 5-for-6 with two doubles, six RBI, two runs scored, and two stolen bases. Freshman Ellis Garcia added three hits and four RBI while redshirt-seniors Dayne Leonard, Caleb McNeely, Tevin Tucker, and sophomore Grant Hussey each knocked in two runs as well. Overall, the Mountaineers had 15 hits which marked a new season high.
On the mound, sophomore Aidan Major got his first start of the season and threw 4.0 hitless innings with five strikeouts while allowing one run. Freshman Carson Estridge earned the win by throwing 1.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Freshmen Cole Fehrman, Maxx Yehl, sophomore Will Watson, and senior Kevin Dowdell closed out the game with 3.2 combined hitless innings and five strikeouts.
WVU was held without a baserunner for the first two innings while App State grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the second. The tide changed in the third as the Mountaineers scored four runs in an inning for the first of three times on the day. The third inning was all about small ball as WVU scored their runs with the help of two bunt singles and two sacrifice flies sandwiched around an RBI single by Wetherholt.
In the fourth, Tucker added his second bunt RBI with a single before Wetherholt tacked on a run with a single. Leonard knocked in a third run of the inning on a groundout while McNeely capped the inning with an RBI single.
The Mountaineers scored three runs in the fifth, all of which came off the bat of Wetherholt who hit a bases-loaded double.
Freshman Tré Keels got his first career hit in the sixth with a double before coming around to score on a sacrifice fly from Garcia.
West Virginia put the finishing touches on the game with four more runs in the seventh as Wetherholt hit an RBI double, Hussey a two-run single, and Garcia a run-scoring single.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow on App State’s campus in Boone, N.C. First pitch from Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium is set for 3 p.m.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
