CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Right-hander Conner Dotson pitched six strong innings and Darius Hill delivered a two-run, two-out double in the seventh as West Virginia beat Charlotte 6-3 on Sunday to avoid a weekend sweep.
The Mountaineers improved to 1-2 as Dotson allowed one run on seven hits. He left with a 4-0 lead in the seventh after surrendering a leadoff single to that became the 49ers’ first run.
Dotson (1-0) issued one walk and did not have any strikeouts.
“It would’ve been nice to see him strike out a few more,” West Virginia coach Randy Mazey said. “His stuff was pretty good and he was throwing it hard and had as good of a breaking ball as he’s had, so that’s encouraging.”
Both teams had 12 hits, but Charlotte stranded 11 baserunners.
“We keep telling the team to stay with the process of what we do and you’ll get rewarded for it, so it’s nice for it to come true,” Mazey said. “We did exactly what we thought we were going to do today, Dotson pitched well and we swung the bats pretty well. We’re just trying to figure out who can come out of the bullpen and at what time.”
The WVU offense was led by freshman center fielder Brandon White, who had three hits and drove in the first two runs of his career.
For Charlotte, right-handed starter Zach Flanagan (0-1) lasted four innings and allowed seven hits, but held West Virginia to just one run on Jackson Cramer’s RBI singled in the first.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Dotson gave up back-to-back singles but he got an inning-ending double play.
The Mountaineers’ bats broke through for three runs in the seventh, set up by two walks and a single against reliever Brandon Vogler. After Matt Brooks came in to pitch, Ivan Gonzalez reached on a fielder’s choice to score the first run. Hill followed with a two-run double to the wall in right-center.
Senior right-hander Jackson Sigman relieved Dotson in the bottom of the seventh and gave up the inherited run, but he also registered two bases-loaded strikeouts to limit the damage.
West Virginia followed by tacking on a pair of insurance runs on Brandon White’s double.
Freshman right-hander Isaiah Kearns made his first career appearance in the eighth inning. He held the 49ers to one hit, a single, with two strikeouts.
The 49ers scored two in the ninth off freshman right-hander Alek Manoah, who allowed two walks and a hit.