LYNCHBURG, Va. — No. 25 West Virginia leaned on dominant pitching and a late offensive surge to defeat Liberty 12-0 on Friday afternoon at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium
The Mountaineers improved to 4-0 on the season, while the Flames fell to 2-2.
Sophomore right-hander Chansen Cole (1-0) earned the win after tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits, walked two and struck out seven. Reese Bassinger entered in the sixth with two runners in scoring position and struck out two to end Liberty’s biggest threat. Sophomores Joshua Surigao and Bryant Yoak each added a scoreless inning as WVU’s pitching staff combined to allow three hits and strike out 14.
Through four innings, Cole and Flames’ starter Ben Blair were locked in a tight duel. Blair, one of the nation’s top mid-major pitching prospects, kept the Mountaineers off the scoreboard early before WVU finally broke through in the fifth.
Senior Brock Wills opened the inning with a single, and Brodie Kresser doubled him home for the game’s first run. Matt Ineich later added a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 and chase Blair, who allowed three runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Sean Smith extended the lead to 4-0 in the sixth with his first home run of the season.
The Mountaineers added four runs in the seventh, highlighted by a squeeze bunt from Paul Schoenfeld. Smith followed with a run-scoring groundout, and RBI singles from Kresser and Tyrus Hall pushed the lead to 8-0.
Schoenfeld capped the scoring in the eighth with a grand slam to right field — his first homer of the season , He finished the day with five RBIs.
Kresser led the way at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs. Smith added two hits and two RBIs, while WVU swiped six bases for the second time this season.
The Mountaineers outhit Liberty 11-3 and snapped the Flames’ 11-game winning streak in home openers. It was the first meeting between the teams since March 2020, when West Virginia earned a 7-0 victory days before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The series concludes Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
