STATESBORO, Ga. – The West Virginia University baseball team got off to a strong start in the 2026 season, Friday as the Mountaineers defeated Georgia Southern, 15-3, at J.I. Clements Stadium.
 
The Mountaineers collected 12 hits, getting three from junior Tyrus Hall and two each from junior Armani Guzman, senior Matthew Graveline, and senior Paul Schoenfeld. Guzman finished the night with three RBI to lead the team while sophomores Gavin Kelly and Matt Ineich each had two. Hall finished the game with four runs scored.
 
On the mound, graduate student Reese Bassinger earned the win with 3.2 scoreless innings, striking out five while allowing just one hit. Redshirt-sophomore JJ Glasscock tossed a scoreless inning to close out the game.
 
Georgia Southern scored a run in both the first and second inning to take a 2-0 lead. Guzman got WVU on the board in the third with a double before the Eagles tacked on another run in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead.
 
From then on, it was all Mountaineers. One run came home in the fifth before WVU took the lead with six runs in the sixth. Senior Ben Lumsden tied up the game with a sacrifice fly which was followed by a balk to put the Mountaineers on top. Kelly added two more with a single before Guzman collected two more RBI with his second double of the night.
 
In the eighth, two runs came home on a pair of Georgia Southern errors before Graveline and Schoenfeld knocked in two more. Ineich hit a two-run triple in the ninth and came home to score on a sacrifice fly by senior Brock Wills.
 
West Virginia continued its theme from late last season as nine of its 15 runs, Friday night came with two outs.
 
The two teams will close out the series on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.