WVU Baseball Tramples Thundering Herd 11-2 in Charleston

WVU Baseball picked up one of their best wins of the season on Tuesday evening, crushing the Marshall Thundering Herd 11-2 at a neutral site game played at Charleston’s GoMart Ballpark.

Head coach Randy Mazey opted for a bullpen game to thwart the Herd as West Virginia’s pitching continues to return to form. Seven Mountaineers’ pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts, and West Virginia allowed just one baserunner across their final six innings.

Marshall struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning, with West Virginia serving as the home squad in the matchup. Mountaineers’ starter Tyler Switalski recovered to strike out a pair of batters with runners on second and third base, preventing the game from spiraling out of control early.

A brief delay ensued in the second inning following an injury to home plate umpire Patrick Atkins.

Catcher Sam White tied the game in the third, drilling a double to left-center after the Mountaineers’ first two batters reached base. Ben Lumsden singled White home to break the tie, then Reed Chumley skied a two-out, three-run homer to put West Virginia up 6-2.

The Mountaineers loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, allowing Ellis Garcia to push another run across with a walk, then Spencer Barnett brought home Chumley with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly. Garcia and Chumley each added RBI doubles in the sixth inning, then Kyle West hit a homer of his own to push the lead to 11-2.

WVU Baseball improves to 10-7 on the season. Up next is a three game series against the Ohio State Buckeyes, with Aidan Major likely to get the start in Game 1 on Friday, March 15.