Victor Scott paces smoking WVU bats in rout of Canisius

“Victor is such a great athlete, and the last couple of years you’ve been waiting for the breakout season,” coach Randy Mazey said of his standout centerfielder. “He’s standing in there with a lot of confidence, and he’s really tough to pitch to right now. He’s starting off really hot this year.

“You walk in our locker right now and look, and he’s won the Iron Mountaineer three straight years. He’s the fastest, strongest athlete we’ve got, and he has a tremendous work ethic.

JJ Wetherholt was 4-5 with four runs scored and three RBI, and Grant Hussey and Dayne Leonard added two hits apiece WVU’s 16-hit attack.Ten different Mountaineers had at least one hit on the afternoon.

West Virginia broke out on top with three runs in the second, courtesy of Mikey Kluska’s two-run single and Dayne Leonard’s following run-scoring hit, then added another in the third on Scott’s sacrifice fly. WVU did run itself out of the chance for more runs in the second, committing a pair of baserunning errors that erased two Mountaineers at second base.

That opened the door for a Canisius rally in the fourth, as the Golden Griffins strung together three consecutive extra base hits off WVU starter Zach Bravo to cut the deficit to 4-3. However, West Virginia quickly went back on the offensive, scoring a pair in the fifth on a fielder’s choice and a wild pitch before smashing the game open with the combined 11 runs in the sixth and seventh.

Weatherholt started the parade with a bases-loaded double to score three in front of Scott’s homer, and Vince Ippoliti had a two-RBI single to close the scoring.

Bolstered by the scoring outbursts, Bravo went four innings and struck out four, but did allow four hits and the three Golden Griffin runs. Reliever Michael Kilker had another solid appearance, earning the win with two innings of one hit-ball in which he struck out three.

“It’s the same game as when were eight or nine years old. I try to keep it as simple as possible,” said Kilker, a freshman who has pitched with the poise of a veteran. “You have to pitch correctly, and hit spots. I try to have fun out there.”

WVU’s final four relievers combined for three innings of solid work, yielding just two hits and one walk. The free pass was in the eighth was the only one issued by Mountaineer hurlers on the day against 11 strikeouts.

West Virginia’s 2022 home opener was the 20th consecutive mid-week win for the program. The streak began in 2017.

West Virginia returns to the road this weekend for three games in the Cambria College Classic. The Mountaineers will face Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan State from Friday-Sunday, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.