BECKLEY, W.Va. — Sophomore left-hander Harrison Musgrave pitched his second-consecutive shutout as the West Virginia baseball team defeated Kansas 1-0 in front of 2,053 fans at Linda K. Epling Stadium.
Musgrave improved to 6-1 on the season, allowing no runs on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Musgrave now has a scoreless innings streak of 26 and he is 4-0 with a 0.97 ERA in the Big 12
The Mountaineers improved to 25-18 overall and 7-6 in the Big 12 while the Jayhawks dropped to 25-16 and 9-7. WVU registered six hits to Kansas’ four. Neither team committed an error.
Scoreless entering the bottom of the eighth, senior right fielder Brady Wilson tripled to left center field, plating sophomore shortstop Taylor Munden for the game-winning run. Munden drew a one-out walk to reach first base.
Wilson finished the contest 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch, while sophomore second baseman Billy Fleming went 3-for-3 with two doubles.
Kansas had the first opportunity of the game, stranding two runners in the top of the third inning. Back-to-back bunt singles by the Jayhawks led off the inning, but Musgrave retired the next three batters to get out of the jam.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Fleming and sophomore center fielder Bobby Boyd each singled to center field for WVU, but sophomore shortstop Taylor Munden grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Connor McKay of Kansas became the first base runner of the evening to reach third base after leading off the eighth inning with an infield single to second base. McKay was sacrificed to second base and stole third with one out before Musgrave retired the next two batters.
McKay went 2-for-3, while Alex DeLeon and Ka’iana Eldredge each had one hit.
Thomas Taylor (4-1) took his first loss of the season for the Jayhawks and allowed one run on six hits in 7.1 innings. Taylor struck out two and walked two before giving way to reliever Jordan Piche’, who pitched the final 0.2 innings.
The teams will complete the three-game series tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The second game will begin at 4 p.m., or approximately 30 minutes after the first game.
With the change in the weekend schedule, fans that had purchased tickets for the Sunday game are encouraged to use the tickets on Saturday. One ticket is good for both games on Saturday.
The games will be video streamed on WVUsports.com, while the radio broadcast will be on select affiliates of the Mountaineer Sports Network, with Morgantown affiliate WAJR 1440 AM serving as the flagship station.