WVU Baseball Rides Outfielders Past Liberty

WVU Baseball won their fourth straight game to begin the 2026 season on Friday, Feb. 20, taking down the Liberty Flames 12-0 behind home runs from Paul Schoenfeld and Sean Smith. Including Smith, who slotted in at designated hitter, West Virginia outfielders knocked in eight of their 12 runs scored.

Mountaineers (4-0) starting pitcher Chansen Cole churned through 5.1 scoreless innings on 81 pitches, allowing two hits and fanning seven batters. He didn’t allow a batter past second base until the sixth inning, his last, when a groundout moved a pair of runners into scoring position.

Head coach Steven Sabins phoned the bullpen for Reese Bassinger, who picked up a pair of strikeouts to escape the jam.

Despite a leadoff double from Brodie Kresser in the third, West Virginia’s offense didn’t get going until the fifth inning, which Smith began with a single before swiping second. Brock Wills singled him home then scored on another Kresser double. Schoenfeld began the sixth with a single but got picked off first base, limiting the damage from Smith’s homer to a single run. 

The Mountaineers blew the game open in the late innings, tacking on four runs apiece in the seventh and eighth: the latter came courtesy of Schoenfeld, who pulled a pitch to right field for a grand slam, his first home run in a West Virginia uniform.

WVU Baseball will conclude their series with the Flames on Saturday, Feb. 21 in a doubleheader intended to avoid inclement weather. The first game will begin at 1 p.m.