CHARLESTON, S.C. — Billy Fleming had four of West Virginia’s 18 hits and Ryan McBroom belted his second homer as the Mountaineers blasted The Citadel 10-2 on Sunday to salvage a win at the Homewood Suites Tournament.
The win was West Virginia’s third consecutive game with at least 10 hits, but its first win of a weekend that included narrow losses to No. 13 Louisville and Delaware.
Fleming went 4-for-5 with a walk, while Bobby Boyd and Shaun Wood had three hits apiece. McBroom had three RBIs and junior catcher Cam O’Brien crossed the plate three times.
Junior left-hander John Means (1-0) continued WVU’s trend of impressive starts, retiring the first eight Bulldogs he faced and allowing one run on five hits in six innings. Means struck out three and did not walk a batter.
After Ryan Tezak, Ross Vance and Pascal Paul combined for two innings of shutout relief, Trevor Simms pitched the ninth inning and allowed one run on two hits.
WVU jumped on Citadel starter Austin Livingston (0-1) for five runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. The Bulldogs dug deep into the bullpen and used eight relievers.
Catcher Cam O’Brien gave WVU a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a solo home run to right field.
West Virginia added to the lead with two runs in the fourth inning. O’Brien scored on a double by Wood who scored on a two-out single by Justin Fox.
Citadel got a run in the fourth before McBroom padded the lead to 5-1 with a two-run homer to left in the fifth inning. The home run was the 23rd of his career, moving him up to ninth all-time at WVU.
A two-out rally gave WVU a 7-1 advantage in the top of the eighth. Taylor Munden singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing erro. Boyd beat out a single to shortstop to drive in Munden, and then scored as McBroom laced a single up the middle.
O’Brien and junior infielder Cody Semler each scored on wild pitches, and Munden scored on a Boyd single to to give WVU the 10-1 lead.
West Virginia will head west next weekend for a three-game series at San Diego State.