MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Darius Hill homered and the bottom half of the order knocked in seven runs as West Virginia beat Middle Tennessee 10-4 in the rubber game of a weekend series Sunday.
The Mountaineers improved their record to 7-6 behind Kyle Gray’s three-hit day, which included a two-run triple in the eighth. Jimmy Galusky drove in two runs with a single and a double, and freshman catcher Connor Hamilton went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
“That’s the good thing about our team: If we have a couple of guys in the lineup that aren’t seeing the ball very well right now, the rest of the guys can pick them up,” coach Randy Mazey said. “I really like where our offense is right now.”
West Virginia collected 15 hits and scored double-digit runs for the third time this season.
Thanks to 11 strikeouts, Kade Strowd (2-1) rebounded after yielding four runs in the second. He pitched 5 2/3 innings, charged with three earned runs on four hits and four walks.
“Our approach was good early, I thought,” said Middle Tennessee coach Jim McGuire, “but their starting pitcher mixed his pitches well.”
Peyton Wigginton (1-2) allowed six runs over 4 1/3 innings for the Blue Raiders who fell to 8-8.