STATESBORO, Ga. – West Virginia’s pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts and leadoff hitter Taylor Munden drove in three runs on three hits during a 12-4 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday.
The Mountaineers (3-2) will go for the second straight series win on Sunday against the Eagles (4-2).
Ross Vance (1-1) allowed three runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts and one walk in 6 1/3 innings. Freshman right-hander Conner Dotson went the rest of the way, giving up one run on three hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.
“They made some big pitches when it really counted with men on base,” West Virginia coach Randy Mazey said. “The hits they gave up were a lot of ground balls between guys. I thought Ross was pretty sharp today and Dotson’s getting some valuable experience in pretty tight games against pretty offensive teams.”
Munden reached base in all five plate appearances and belted one of WVU’s three homers, joining third baseman Justin Fox and right fielder Brad Johnson. Freshman left fielder Kyle Davis was 3-for-4 with a double. Fox had three extra-base hits and scored three times.
West Virginia finished with 14 hits against seven Georgia Southern pitchers. Starter Adam Kelly (0-1), who allowed two runs on two hits and one walk in 2 1/3 innings, took the loss.
“The thing about today was coming off the loss yesterday, the seniors had great days,” Mazey said. “Johnson had a couple of hits, Fox had three extra-base hits and Taylor had a great day. When you lose the first game of the series you need leadership to get back into it. That’s what you need your seniors to do. That’s what we asked those guys to do and they really produced for us today.”