MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Five pitchers combined to throw a four-hitter as West Virginia beat Morehead State 5-1 on Wednesday night, silencing one of the highest-scoring lineups in Division I.
Darius Hill drove in two runs for the Mountaineers, who managed only five hits themselves yet won their fourth straight game and improved to 17-10.
Morehead State , which fell to 22-7, entered the game leading the nation in on-base percentage, ranked second in team hitting (.340) and third in scoring (8.8 per game).
It barely scratched against WVU’s Alek Manoah — who went 3 2/3 innings in his first start — and the relief committee of Cody Wood, Frank Vesuvio, Jackson Sigman and Riley Troutt.
“We went into it knowing that they’re the No. 1 offensive team in all of college baseball,” West Virginia coach Randy Mazey said. “Alek Manoah came to me last night and said ‘Come on man, give me the ball.’ I said ‘You better be careful what you ask for, big man. They’re hitting .340 as a team.’ But he said ‘I want it,’ so that’s encouraging, knowing that a guy wants to pitch against a team like that.
“He just went out, attacked the strike zone and hit a couple of their batters, got them off the plate a little bit and did really well. That’s super encouraging.”
Manoah allowed just one hit but left Wood (1-0) facing a bases-loaded situation in the fourth. Wood induced a first-pitch flyout to escape the jam.
“His first pitch in college is with the bases loaded and two outs,” Mazey said. “The kid has worked his tail off since he’s been here. He deserves everything good that happens to him. You throw like that, you throw more often. I’m so anxious to see him back out there pretty soon.”
The Mountaineers had a five-run lead in the sixth when Wood balked home the Eagles’ only run. Even that score was contested as Mazey argued that Woods’ fake-to-third move legitimately picked off the runner at first.
Morehead State starter Luke Humphreys (2-2) stuck around for only 10 pitches, yet made them adventurous — with two walks, a thrown-away pickoff attempt and a run-scoring wild pitch. His wildness staked WVU to a 2-0 lead without getting the ball out of the infield.
Manoah turned in a highlight-reel double play in the second inning, making a barehanded snag on a soft-hit line drive and catching the runner off first base.
West Virginia added another two runs in the third to go up 4-0.
A throwing error on a first-and-third double steal scored Kyle Gray before Hill’s ground-out scored Brandon White.
In the fifth, WVU’s Kyle Davis doubled and scored on Hill’s single up the middle.
West Virginia’s homestand continues Friday with the opener of a three-game series against Kansas.