MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As West Virginia piled up 20 hits, Eastern Michigan threatened to go without.
Ivan Gonzalez opened his 3-for-3 night with a two-run shot and sophomore Braden Zarbnisky homered for the first time in his career, helping the Mountaineers roll 17-1 on Tuesday night, their most lopsided victory of the season.
West Virginia, which fell out of the top 25 after a two-week stay, improved to 26-17 and built momentum for this weekend’s home series against No. 6 Texas Tech.
Eleven Mountaineers collected hits, including Kyle Davis going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Zarbnisky ripping a three-run homer in the fourth to make the gap 12-0. First baseman Jackson Cramer walked twice and singled before giving way to Kevin Brophy, who went 3-for-3 with two run-scoring singles.
EMU, which fell to 18-27, was no-hit until the seventh inning and finished with only three hits.
West Virginia’s Sam Kessler made his first start and struck out three over two innings before handing over an 8-0 lead to Shane Ennis (1-0), who delivered three scoreless innings. Riley Trout followed with two scoreless innings.
Eagles starter Justin McMurtrey (3-3) yielded eight earned runs while facing only 12 batters in one-plus innings.