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No. 17 West Virginia (33-18) began its final three-game series of the regular season with a 10-1 win over George Washington (30-23) Thursday night at Monongalia County Ballpark.
The two teams were tied at 1-1 through two innings, but the Mountaineers used a seven-run third inning to take a commanding lead which they preserved for the rest of the game.
Darius Hill led West Virginia with three hits while Kevin Brophy and T.J. Lake each had two. All but two batters in West Virginia’s starting lineup had an RBI.
Manoah struck out two batters during the first inning and despite an error leading to a runner getting on base for George Washington, Ivan Gonzalez was able to catch Nate Fassnacht stealing second for the final out of the inning.
The Mountaineers then managed to score first during the bottom half of the inning thanks to an RBI single by Darius Hill that scored Tyler Doanes from third base.
George Washington then tied the game up at 1-1 thanks to three straight singles to start off the second inning. The third single scored the game-tying run.
Manoah also made history during the top of the second by striking out his third batter of the game. This strikeout gave him 124 on the year which set a new program record, breaking John Radosevich’s record of 123 set back in 1964.
The turning point of the game came during the bottom of the third inning when West Virginia plated seven runs during the inning to take a convincing 8-1 lead.
Brandon White and Hill each got on base to start the inning thanks to a walk and single. An RBI single by Marques Inman, RBI double by Paul McIntosh, sacrifice fly by Gonzalez, RBI single by Kevin Brophy, RBI double by T.J. Lake and RBI single by Tevin Tucker all followed.
Manoah was pulled and exited to a standing ovation from the Monongalia County Ballpark crowd with two down during the fourth inning. He finished the game with 56 total pitches, four strikeouts and allowed four hits, no walks and one earned run. Freshman right-hander Ryan Bergert then retired the next batter to end the fourth.
The Mountaineers stranded a pair of runners during the fifth and sixth innings, but George Washington would do the same during the top of the seventh.
West Virginia then added to its lead during the bottom of the seventh inning with an RBI single by Tevin Tucker which scored Andrew Zitel from second base.
Hill hit a leadoff double to begin the eighth inning. This double was the 74th in his college career which broke the program record previously held by Jedd Gyorko. Hill later advanced to third base after a wild pitch and he was brought home with single by Gonzalez to make it 10-1 in favor the Mountaineers.
From there, senior left-hander Zach Reid, who was the team's fourth pitcher to come out of the bullpen Thursday night, sealed the win for West Virginia during the top of the ninth.
Game two of the series will take place Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET at Monongalia County Ballpark.
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