After dropping a one-run heartbreaker in the Big 12 opener the night before, the West Virginia Mountaineers responded in emphatic fashion.
West Virginia exploded on offense early and never looked back, cruising past the Baylor Bears 13–2 behind a dominant performance at the plate and steady pitching. The Mountaineers built a lead in the first inning and continued to pile on runs throughout the game to even the weekend series in Waco. Read more: Mountaineers erupt early to even Baylor series, win 13-2.
Fast start puts WVU in control
West Virginia wasted no time getting on the board. The first three Mountaineers reached base in the opening inning, setting up Paul Schoenfeld, who delivered a double to bring home two runs and give WVU an early 2–0 lead.
Moments later, Brock Wills drove a ball the opposite way for an RBI, extending the lead to 3–0 before Baylor could escape the inning. The Mountaineers carried the momentum into the second.
Schoenfeld picked up another RBI to make it 4–0, and Wills followed with a two-out RBI single to stretch the advantage to 5–0. West Virginia kept the rally alive when Brodie Kresser joined the scoring with an RBI single, capping the inning and pushing the Mountaineers ahead 6–0.
Read related: WVU Baseball loses Big 12 opener to Baylor
Baylor briefly responds
The Mountaineers added another run in the fourth inning when Wills beat the tag at the plate, pushing the lead to 7–0. Baylor managed to answer in the bottom half of the inning with two runs, trimming the deficit to 7–2, but West Virginia quickly regained control.
Meanwhile, Chansen Cole continued to keep the Bears in check on the mound, recording his third strikeout of the day to end the fourth inning.
Mountaineers pile on late
West Virginia’s offense continued to produce in the middle innings. Sean Smith drove in two runs in the fifth inning to extend the Mountaineers’ lead to 9–2, and WVU kept the pressure on from there.
In the sixth inning, Tyrus Hall delivered an RBI knock through a drawn-in infield to score West Virginia’s 10th run of the afternoon. Moments later, Matt Ineich ripped an RBI double to make it 11–2.
Schoenfeld struck again later in the inning, sending a triple off the wall to drive in another run and push the lead to 12–2. The Mountaineers added one more run in the seventh to cap the scoring and seal the 13–2 victory.
What’s next?
With the win, West Virginia bounced back after Friday night’s narrow loss and evened the weekend matchup against Baylor. The Mountaineers return to the field in Waco Sunday for the rubber match.
Following the Baylor series, West Virginia returns home for a midweek matchup against Penn State on March 17. BYU comes to Kendrick Family Ballpark for the weekend. Stay up to date with WV Sports Nation for all WVU sports coverage.
