West Virginia Smashes Canisius in Home-Opener

Morgantown, WV - West Virginia (7-4) took down the Canisius Golden Griffins (2-6) 8-1 in the Mountaineers home-opener Wednesday evening with freshman right-hander Gavin Van Kempen collecting his first win of the season, striking out eight in 5.1 innings.

Sophomore J.J. Wetherholt went 3-3 with two doubles, a two-home run and three RBIs while junior Braden Barry was 3-5 with a three-run home run on the day.

Jackson Strong hit a leadoff home run to start the game and gave Canisius the early 1-0 advantage.

In the bottom of the first, Braden Barry delivered a leadoff single before J.J. Wetherholt smacked a two-run blast over the left-centerfield, claiming a 2-1 lead.

Tevin Tucker ripped a leadoff double down the left field line in the fifth and Braden Barry laid a bunt just past the pitcher for a single to set up a sacrifice fly from Wetherholt as the Mountaineers extended their lead to 3-1.

West Virginia tacked on four runs in the sixth when Barry drove a three-home run and Caleb McNeely popped a sacrifice fly for the 7-1 Mountaineer advantage.

Wetherhold led off with a double in the eighth for his third, then Dayne Leonard followed with a ground rule double pushing the Mountaineers advantage to seven, 8-1.

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