WVU Baseball Pummels Columbia, Salvages Series

After struggling through the first two games of their home series with the Columbia Lions, WVU Baseball left nothing to chance in the weekend finale, pummeling their Ivy League foe 16-1 in Morgantown.

The Mountaineers (10-3) got the scoring started with their second grand slam in as many games, shortstop Matt Ineich hitting an opposite field home run that blew the game open 6-0. Gavin Kelly doubled on the next pitch then dashed to third on a throwing error, but Lions’ starter Jack Korthas managed to stop the damage there.

Columbia managed just one run against West Virginia starter Maxx Yehl – a bases-loaded fielders’ choice in the third inning. Yehl went on to complete six innings on 103 pitches, fanning nine batters. The Mountaineers’ bats continued to roll in the third, loading the bases to set up a two-run single from Ineich. The veteran transfer ended his day with six RBI across three trips on base.

Armani Guzman brought in a run in the fourth with a sacrifice fly, then center fielder Paul Schoenfeld helped create another with a double steal attempt in the following frame, sacrificing himself so Kelly could dart home. The Mountaineers drew five straight walks with two outs in the seventh, watching 13 consecutive balls sail past at one point and scraping two more runs across.

Head coach Steve Sabins began to rotate his bench in during the eighth inning, holding a near-insurmountable 12-1 lead, and the Mountaineers’ reserves managed to tack on four more runs.

Up next, WVU Baseball will host Maryland at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10 before delving into conference play.