UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (April 12, 2022) – The No. 24-ranked West Virginia University baseball team took down Penn State, 8-4, on Tuesday night at Medlar Field at Lumbrano Park.
WVU scored first and took advantage of a six-run third inning in the victory. In all, the club led wire-to-wire and tallied 14 hits.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Aidan Major earned the win, the first of his career, while Tommy Molsky took the loss for the Nittany Lions.
“This had ‘trap game’ written all over it,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “With the circumstances of us coming off a big, emotional weekend, and our guys thinking they could just come in here and win – that just wasn’t going to be the case. You always have to play well, so kudos to our kids for playing really well on all sides of the ball.”
West Virginia (21-10) jumped out to an early lead with a run in the top of the first inning. Junior outfielder Victor Scott II registered a two-out triple, before sophomore catcher McGwire Holbrook brought him home moments later with an RBI single to make it 1-0.
Penn State (12-18) threatened by loading the bases in the second, but sophomore right-hander Tyler Strechay was able to field a comebacker to the mound to get out of the frame. The Collegeville, Pennsylvania, native allowed two runs in 2.1 innings of work, earning a no decision.
From there, the Mountaineers broke the game open with a six-run third to make it 7-0. Once again, Scott II and Holbrook got the rally going, as the pair brought runs home on an RBI double and single, respectively.
Then, redshirt junior catcher Dayne Leonard recorded an RBI single, which turned into an extra run for WVU due to a Penn State throwing error, before freshman infielder Grant Hussey put the finishing touches on the big inning with an RBI double to right field.
Penn State got on the board in the bottom of the third, though, as the hosts hit a two-run home run to cut the deficit to five.
Scott II’s third hit of the day, a bunt single, scored West Virginia’s eighth run of the night in the fourth. The Powder Springs, Georgia, native finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored and was just a homer short of the cycle.
The Nittany Lions hit their second, two-run homer in the fifth inning, getting the score line to 8-4. That’s when senior right-hander Zach Ottinger entered to stabilize things for the visitors. Ottinger pitched 2.1, shutout innings, tallying three strikeouts out of the bullpen.
From there, redshirt junior right-hander Noah Short and sophomore righty Ben Abernathy turned Penn State away in the eighth and ninth innings to secure the victory.
Along with Scott II, senior outfielder Austin Davis, who was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday, went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Holbrook tallied a pair of hits and two RBI in the win. Together, the Mountaineers’ top four hitters in the lineup combined to collect nine hits on the night.
The win marked WVU’s sixth in a row and moved the club to a season-best 11 games above .500.
Up next, the Mountaineers return home for a big, three-game series against No. 3 Oklahoma State, from April 15-17, in Morgantown. First pitch of Friday’s series opener is set for 6:30 p.m. ET, at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark.
WVU scored first and took advantage of a six-run third inning in the victory. In all, the club led wire-to-wire and tallied 14 hits.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Aidan Major earned the win, the first of his career, while Tommy Molsky took the loss for the Nittany Lions.
“This had ‘trap game’ written all over it,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “With the circumstances of us coming off a big, emotional weekend, and our guys thinking they could just come in here and win – that just wasn’t going to be the case. You always have to play well, so kudos to our kids for playing really well on all sides of the ball.”
West Virginia (21-10) jumped out to an early lead with a run in the top of the first inning. Junior outfielder Victor Scott II registered a two-out triple, before sophomore catcher McGwire Holbrook brought him home moments later with an RBI single to make it 1-0.
Penn State (12-18) threatened by loading the bases in the second, but sophomore right-hander Tyler Strechay was able to field a comebacker to the mound to get out of the frame. The Collegeville, Pennsylvania, native allowed two runs in 2.1 innings of work, earning a no decision.
From there, the Mountaineers broke the game open with a six-run third to make it 7-0. Once again, Scott II and Holbrook got the rally going, as the pair brought runs home on an RBI double and single, respectively.
Then, redshirt junior catcher Dayne Leonard recorded an RBI single, which turned into an extra run for WVU due to a Penn State throwing error, before freshman infielder Grant Hussey put the finishing touches on the big inning with an RBI double to right field.
Penn State got on the board in the bottom of the third, though, as the hosts hit a two-run home run to cut the deficit to five.
Scott II’s third hit of the day, a bunt single, scored West Virginia’s eighth run of the night in the fourth. The Powder Springs, Georgia, native finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored and was just a homer short of the cycle.
The Nittany Lions hit their second, two-run homer in the fifth inning, getting the score line to 8-4. That’s when senior right-hander Zach Ottinger entered to stabilize things for the visitors. Ottinger pitched 2.1, shutout innings, tallying three strikeouts out of the bullpen.
From there, redshirt junior right-hander Noah Short and sophomore righty Ben Abernathy turned Penn State away in the eighth and ninth innings to secure the victory.
Along with Scott II, senior outfielder Austin Davis, who was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday, went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Holbrook tallied a pair of hits and two RBI in the win. Together, the Mountaineers’ top four hitters in the lineup combined to collect nine hits on the night.
The win marked WVU’s sixth in a row and moved the club to a season-best 11 games above .500.
Up next, the Mountaineers return home for a big, three-game series against No. 3 Oklahoma State, from April 15-17, in Morgantown. First pitch of Friday’s series opener is set for 6:30 p.m. ET, at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark.
