No. 15 West Virginia Rides Early Runs, Strong Pitching in 3-1 Win

No. 15 West Virginia crossed over the border into Maryland and stopped in Hagerstown to battle the Penn State Nittany Lions (10-24) on neutral grounds as the Mountaineers (25-8) came away with a 3-1 Wednesday night at Meritus Park.

Paul Schoenfeld came into the contest in a bit of a slump, hitting .228 during a seven-game stretch, but on the senior's first appearance at the plate in the bottom of the first inning, he drove the 0-2 pitch over the right field wall for a solo home run, his second of the year, for an early 1-0 WVU lead.

Senior Jack Porter tied the game in the top of the second with his second home run of the season.

West Virginia reclaimed the lead in the third when senior Brock Wills ripped a one-out triple and sophomore Matt Ineich followed with a walk, ending Penn State starter Mason Butash's night. Penn State head coach Mike Gambino tabbed right-hander Lollin Harrison. Sophomore Gavin Kelly collected his 34th RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Schoenfeld followed with a double before Sean Smith added a shot back up the middle to add another run for the 3-1 advantage.

West Virginia starting pitcher David Hagan threw three innings and recorded a strikeout to limit the Nittany Lions to one run. Ian Korn stepped onto the mound in the fourth and registered three Ks before Weston Smith gave the club a scoreless inning. Then, Reese Bassinger, another Mountaineers struggling coming into the game, tossed three scoreless innings and finished with four strikeouts for the senior's second save of the season.

The Mountaineers are back in action Friday night as they play host to the Cougars for the first of a three game series at Kendrick Family Ballpark. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. EST while game two is slated for Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST. All the action will stream on ESPN+.

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