West Virginia opened Big 12 Conference play with a win beating BYU 10-4 in the series opener Thursday afternoon inside Kendrick Family Ballpark at the Monongalia County Baseball Complex.
West Virginia moves to 8-6 on the season and now 2-0 at home.
Right handed junior pitcher Aidan Major got the win for the Mountaineers and permitted four runs on eight hits with a walk and eight strikeouts across eight innings.
The Mountaineers used a five-run fifth inning to take control of the game, while Ellis Garcia finished 2-4 with a home run, 2 RBIs and a walk, Skylar King was 3-5 and Sam White was 2-3 with 2 RBIs and a pair of walks.
Major would put together an efficient seven pitch first inning that included a strikeout. And in the bottom half, West Virginia would plate a run on a double play ball where King would cross home plate before the out was recorded at second.
It was another three-up, three down inning for Major in the second as he would record another strikeout to keep BYU off the scoreboard. However, despite a walk the Mountaineers would go down without adding to their lead in the home half.
The Cougars would get their first base runner in the third on a single by Keoni Painter but the threat would be extinguished after a routine flyout by the next batter. West Virginia would also not add any runs in the bottom frame to keep it at 1-0.
In the fourth, Major would retire the first two batters before allowing a walk however he would close the door inducing a fly ballout to keep the Cougars scoreless. The Mountaineers would again fail to add to the lead through four innings.
After a three-up, three down inning by Major in the fifth, the Mountaineers would load the bases in the bottom half with a single, a walk and a perfectly executed bunt on down the third base side by King. Then White would drive home two on a single to centerfield to increase the West Virginia advantage to 3-0. After another walk, West Virginia would again face a bases loaded situation with one out and tack on another run on a Garcia single which forced BYU pitcher Ben Hansen from the game.
On the first pitch from Mason Olson, Kyle West would lace a single into right center to plate two more and give the Mountaineers a 6-0 lead but from there the Cougars would record the final two outs to get out of the inning.
Major would allow a double in the top half of the sixth but would put out the fire inducing a swing and miss with the slider to keep the Cougars off the scoreboard.
After a scoreless bottom half, the Cougars would get on the board on a Cooper Vest solo home run to cut the West Virginia lead to 6-1. And from there, BYU would load the bases with just one out on a pair of singles and a hit by pitch. However, Major would then record a strikeout and a flyout to the track to get out the inning allowing just a run.
West Virginia would get that run back on the first batter of the eighth inning with a 398-foot shot by Garcia to put them back ahead 7-1. And the Mountaineers would tack on two more runs on an RBI single by Spencer Barnett and an error.
Major would come back out in the eighth inning but would give up two home runs, including a two-run shot to close the gap to 9-4. But the Mountaineers would add another on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth to push the lead to 10-4.
Bryce Amos would come on to pitch the ninth and close up shop.
The Mountaineers will play a double header against BYU Friday with the opening game starting at 2 p.m. and the next following 30-minutes later.
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