Braden Barry and JJ Weatherholt combined for six hits and six RBI to pace West Virginia in an 8-1 victory over Canisius in collegiate baseball action Wednesday at the Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark in Morgantown, W. Va.
Weatherholt finished the day with three extra-base knocks on a home run and two doubles in his three official plate appearances while Barry was 3-for-5 with three-run blast for the Mountaineers (7-4). Caleb McNeely went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two walks.
Sophomore Jackson Strong finished the day 2-for-3 with a home run to pace the Golden Griffins (2-6) lineup. Graduate student Kyle Kush was 1-for-4 with a double, one of five Canisius players to post a single base hit in the contest.
Strong led off the contest with a solo home run to center field to stake Canisius to an early 1-0 lead, only to see Weatherholt respond with a two-run blast in the home half of the opening frame to put WVU in front, 2-1.
Weatherholt provided an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 3-1 game before the Mountaineers plated four runs with two outs in the sixth to build a 7-1 cushion. Barry connected on a 2-2 offering for a three-run home run to left field while McNeely closed out the scoring in the frame on an RBI single to center.
A ground-rule double off the bat of Dayne Leonard in the eighth inning brought home Weatherholt from second to close out the scoring.
Gavin Van Kampen picked up the win on the mound for the Mountaineers, allowing one run in 5.1 innings of work to record up his first win of the season. Van Kampen scattered six hits while striking out eight.
The WVU bullpen shut the door the rest of the way, as four Mountaineers relievers combined to allow just four Canisius batters to reach base over the final 3.2 innings, surrendering one hit and three walks.
Tom Peltier was saddled with the loss for Canisius as he moved to 0-2 on the young season. In 3.0 innings of work, Peltier allowed two runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out three.
Game Notes
• Canisius and West Virginia met for the second time in five days with their matchup in Morgantown on Wednesday. The teams played a neutral-site contest at the Central Virginia Classic in Richmond, Va., a game the Mountaineers won by a 3-2 margin.
• The teams combined to leave 18 runners on base as the Griffs stranded eight while the Mountaineers left 10 on basepaths.
• Canisius was 1-for-4 in stolen base attempts as the Griffs were thrown out on the basepaths a season-high three times on Wednesday.
• The home run by Strong was the first of his collegiate career while his two hits were a career high for the West Seneca, N.Y., native.
• Kush recorded his second extra-base knock of the season with his double in the fifth inning on Wednesday.
Up Next
Canisius opens a non-conference series at Marshall on Friday. First pitch between the Griffs and Thundering Herd is slated for 2 p.m. at the Kennedy Center YMCA in Huntington, W. Va.
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