MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Sophomore left-hander John Means fired seven shutout innings of three-hit baseball to lift West Virginia over Maryland Baltimore County 4-0 at the Caravelle Resort Baseball at the Beach tournament.
Means (2-0) struck out five before yielding to right-hander Corey Holmes, who pitched the final two innings for WVU (4-5).
“(Means) was unbelievable,” coach Randy Mazey said. “Anytime you throw a shutout you know you’re not going to lose the game. He went out and mixed two pitches, he didn’t have his breaking ball today. His fastball and changeup were really good, and early in the season you’re trying to find those guys that can pitch on the weekends in conference play. He’s earning some more time every start.”
All four of WVU’s runs came with two outs and the offense was paced by junior designated hitter Matt Frazer, who had two hits, two RBIs and a run. Sophomore center fielder Bobby Boyd scored twice out of the leadoff spot with one hit, one walk and one stolen base.
“This is probably one of the worst offensive days we have had, but we managed to win the game and put together some hits at the right time,” Mazey said. “It’s hard as an offense to grind it out and get 12 hits every game, so it’s nice when you don’t do that and the pitching staff does well.”
Bobby Applegate took the loss for UMBC (0-2), allowing three earned runs on five hits during five innings.
WVU will close out tournament action Sunday at 1:30 p.m. against Florida Atlantic.