West Virginia Sweeps Georgia Southern in Season Opening Series

The West Virginia Mountaineers (3-0) took game two of the doubleheader, sweeping the series, against the Georgia Southern Eagles (0-3) Saturday night.

For the second consecutive game, sophomore Gavin Kelly went opposite field with a line drive down the right field line to lead the contest with a double. Then sophomore Matt Ineich flared a single to left field to bring Kelly around third in into home for an RBI and an early 1-0 edge.

Senior Matt Graveline gave the Mountaineers a little cushion after blasting a solo homerun in the second. However, in the bottom of the frame, Georgia Southern freshman John Davis tripled off the left field wall and redshirt freshman Max Prozny singled back up the middle to bring Davis home. Then with two outs, Sammy Leis dropped an RBI single to left field to tie the game at two.

West Virginia starting pitcher, junior right hander Dawson Montesa, began his Mountaineer debut with three consecutive strikeouts. He finished the evening with seven strikeouts in six innings of work, allowing the two runs on six hits, for his first win of the season.

West Virginia reclaimed the lead in the seventh after Kelly singled to right field. Then, with two on and two outs, consecutive walks brought Graveline in for the go ahead run, prompting Georgia Southern head coach Rodney Hennon to turn to junior righty Connor Fugate, who would walk in an additional run before getting out of the inning on a deep fly ball from senior Ben Lumsden as WVU held a 4-2 lead.

After a leadoff double from junior Armani Guzman in the ninth, Graveline brought him around with a single down the right field line for his third RBI of the night as the Mountaineers complete the series sweep with a 5-2 decision.

West Virginia is back in action Feb. 20 in the first of a three-game series at Liberty. The first pitch for game one is set for Friday at 4:00 p.m. EST, game two is on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:00 p.m. and the series final is scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. All the action will stream on ESPN+.

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