The No. 16 nationally seeded West Virginia Mountaineers (40-14) crushed the Binghamton Bearcats (31-21) in the opening round of the Morgantown regional 10-1.
Binghamton Zack Kent hit a leadoff double down the left field line to begin the top of the second inning and moved to third on what was officially ruled a wild pitch. Then, with one out, junior Zach Anderson hit a grounder to third as junior Tyrus Hall scooped up the and went to home, Kent slid under the tag for a 1-0 Bearcat lead.
In the fourth, West Virginia senior Sean Smith was hit by the 2-2 pitch to begin the inning. Then, on the first pitch delivered to senior Matthew Graveline, he ripped a two-run home run, his sixth of the season. Junior Armani Guzman followed with a deep fly ball to centerfield that rattled out of the glove of sophomore Matt Bolton has he hit the wall for a double.
Binghamton junior Connor Griffin proceeded to walk senior Brodie Kresser and Bearcats head coach Tim Sinicki called to his bullpen for right-hander Jackson Mitchell, and it didn't take long for the Mountaineers to add to the lead when West Virginia senior Ben Lumsden jumped on the 3-2 pitch and drove it 413 feet for a three-run home run, the first of the season and his second postseason home run of his career to cap a five-run fifth inning as the Mountaineers claimed a 5-1 advantage.
