GRANVILLE, W.Va. – The West Virginia Black Bears earned their second straight win and moved to 2-0 at home this season after beating the Williamsport Crosscutters 6-1 on Wednesday evening.
The story of today's matchup centered on pitching; Tyler Wood, a Tennessee commit, made a highly anticipated debut on the mound for the Black Bears. Nerves got to him early in the first, allowing one run with two wild pitches before settling in. From there, he quickly found his rhythm and struck out the side in the second.
The Bears' bullpen took control in the third, shutting down the Crosscutters' offense with strong relief outings from Evan Hamberger and Scott Rienguette. The two combined for 4.2 innings pitched while allowing only two hits.
With the Bears bullpen holding the Cutters scoreless, West Virginia’s offense went off for 12 hits with seven extra bases, including two triples. Back-to-back doubles from Jonny McGill and Judah Morris put the Black Bears ahead by one in the bottom of the first. The next inning, catcher Beau Sylvester tripled to center field to score Bryan Arendt. Sylvester followed him home on a groundout to short by Ethan Hott, giving West Virginia a 4-1 lead. Second baseman Tyler Pettorini sent a deep line drive to right field, scoring Sylvester for his second run. The Bears tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth on a single from Arendt, ending the game up 6-1.
The Bears' offense was led by Beau Sylvester, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI. Tyler Pettorini, who also went 2-for-4 drove in one and scored one in the fourth inning.
With the win, the Black Bears improve to 4-2 on the season. West Virginia looks to sweep Williamsport at Kendrick Family Ballpark on Thursday evening for Faith and Family Night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
