MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia pitcher Griffin Kirn helped keep Utah at bay with a dominant start that included 14 strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.
A trio of Mountain State natives did their part to ensure Kirn’s effort didn’t go to waste.
Kyle West and Jace Rinehart connected for consecutive solo home runs in the third inning, and after the Utes rallied to tie the game, Grant Hussey blasted a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth that made all the difference for the Mountaineers in a 6-3 victory at Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
“Those three guys are all power hitters with great attitudes that want to see West Virginia win,” WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. “Fun for me, fun for the fan base and fun for those kids.”
The result gives WVU (25-4, 5-3) a fifth consecutive win ahead of Saturday’s doubleheader against Utah (13-14, 2-8).
After Kirn surrendered a home run to Drake Digiorino in the second inning for the first run of the game, the southpaw was in cruise control for much of the remainder of his outing. He struck out the next two batters to give him three through two innings.
“It kind of irritated me,” Kirn said. “I’ve let up quite a few home runs this year. It got me over the edge and I was like, ‘it’s time to go.’ That’s not going to happen again.”
With WVU still trailing 1-0 in the home half of the third, West, a Hedgesville native, got the Mountaineers even with a home run to center.
Jace Rinehart, a former standout at North Marion High School, followed with a round-tripper to left and the Utes faced their first deficit.
“There’s nothing better than having people proud of this state and university have success, and guys that grew up here and know what it means to be a Mountaineer, but I don’t want to sell any of our guys short,” Sabins said.
Kirn overcame Tyler Quinn’s leadoff single in the fourth by striking out the next three batters, and he worked around a leadoff walk in the fifth with two more punch outs.
The two solo home runs marked WVU’s two hits through four innings off Utah starting pitcher Colter McAnelly, and Logan Sauve provided another one in the fifth, blasting a solo shot to center just after Armani Guzman was caught stealing third base.
Kirn struck out the side (all looking) in the sixth, but encountered trouble in the seventh as Digorino led off with a single and Jake Long followed with a double down the right-field line.
With two in scoring position and no outs, Kirn buckled down and struck out Derek Smith before inducing a weak fly ball off the bat of Santino Panaro.
With his team leading 3-1, Sabins elected to pull Kirn in favor of Chase Meyer.
“Chase has been dominant and I fully understood that,” said Kirn, while admitting he would’ve preferred to stay in. “He gave us the best opportunity to win.”
However, Meyer immediately hit pinch hitter Cameron Gurney and then surrendered a tying two-run single off the bat of leadoff hitter Austen Roellig.
“It wasn’t the right decision if you’re basing it off results,” Sabins said, “but we ended up winning the game.”
After Rinehart bounced out with the bases loaded to end the home half of the seventh, Meyer induced an inning-ending double play in the eighth that kept the game tied at 3.
The next time Meyer came out to pitch, he did so with a three-run cushion.
Skylar King hit a leadoff single in the eighth, and with one out, McAnelly was removed for relief pitcher Jackson Elder.
King immediately stole second and scored moments later when Hussey, a former standout at Parkersburg South, belted a two-run blast to center that was hardly visible off the bat due to excessive fog.
“It proves that there’s talent and West Virginia kids can compete with anybody,” Hussey said. “I can understand why they get looked down upon. There’s not a whole lot of resources around here, but it really shows what we can do as a whole.“
A Spencer Barnett double led to him scoring WVU’s sixth and final run later in the eighth on an error.
“Hussey was up against a reliever and it felt like when you take McAnelly out of the game, it doesn’t matter, anybody else is better to face than who we faced as a starter,” Sabins said.
Roellig stepped into the batter’s box in the form of the tying run in the ninth, but Meyer kept his cool and sealed the verdict with a strikeout.
In a no decision, Kirn was charged with three runs on six hits. He walked one.
“He threw 92 pitches,” Sabins said, “and damn near every one of them was quality.”
Meyer allowed one hit over 2 1/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Both teams finished with seven hits and Roellig led all players with three.
McAnelly took the tough-luck loss after allowing four runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out nine and walked four. McAnelly entered 2-1 with a 2.72 ERA and 51 strikeouts against 12 base-on-balls.
“He’s the definition of a guy with good stuff and not great stuff, but an elite competitor,” Sabins said. “He never backs down and throws all his pitches with conviction.”
Friday’s matchup marked the first meeting between WVU and Utah.
