West Virginia Pounds Towson, Forces Mercy Rule

Morgantown, WV – The West Virginia Mountaineers (15-1) had another outburst at the plate Tuesday afternoon with a 16-5 decision against the Towson Tigers (4-12).

After Towson starting pitcher Jonathan Rosario loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, senior Jase Rinehart hit a ground ball to first base and a low through got past catcher Joey Current to score a pair of runs. Gavin Kelley followed with a sacrifice fly to center field for the first of his three RBI on the day, and Skylar King beat Rosario to first on a ground ball to the right side for a 4-0 lead.

West Virginia broke the game open in the second after senior Kyle West smashed an RBI doubled off the high portion of the left field wall, Kelley worked a walk for an RBI and a sharp groundball from King was too hot to handle for first baseman Josh Janove to cap a three-run second inning and a 7-0 advantage.

In the fourth, Kelley smacked a double into the gap in right-centerfield for a double and on a groundball to short, Kelley scored from second for a 9-0 lead.

Following two runs by the Tigers in the top of the six, junior Benjamin Lumsden delivered his second RBI sacrifice groundball on the afternoon to extend the WVU lead back to eight, 10-8.

West Virginia Spencer Barnett hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, and in the eight, the sophomore blasted a grand slam for a career-high five RB and mercy rule was put into effect as the Mountaineers hammered the Tigers 16-5.

The Mountaineers open their Big 12 Conference schedule on the road against the Oklahoma State Cowboys for a three-game series. Game on is set for Friday with the first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.