MORGANTOWN — Matt Ineich stepped up to the plate for the fifth time in West Virginia baseball’s last game against Georgia Southern. On the 2-1 pitch, Ineich roped a double. This was his third hit of the game, finishing the day 3-for-3. Ineich had the first RBI, which helped the Mountaineers win the game 5-2, sweeping the Eagles.

“[Ineich] is an animal,” head coach Steve Sabins said.

WVU had high expectations coming into the season after a super regional finish last year. The Mountaineers lost a couple of key players, so Sabins rebuilt the roster through transfers, and Ineich was one of them. He came over after a year at Ohio. In the lone year, Ineich played in all 36 games, had a .387 batting average, .514 slugging percentage, and a .467 on-base percentage. Ineich was named All-MAC second team as a freshman.

As a sophomore and after a strong winter showing with the Mountaineers, Sabins entrusted the infielder to be their shortstop. Last year, Brodie Kresser played short, but he had surgery on his throwing shoulder, so he’s moved over to first.

“Ineich has just been defensively solid at shortstop,” Sabins said. “He has kind of that quiet killer mentality. He’s able to turn the page and move on to the next play as fast as just about anybody I’ve ever coached.”

It looks like a start decision after the first six games, and Ineich has fit in seamlessly for WVU. Ineich is second on the team in batting average (.476) and slugging (.667), just behind Kresser, who has half the at-bats. The Ohio transfer has two doubles, a triple and seven RBIs. He also jointly leads the team in walks.

With Ineich playing short and last year’s star freshman Gavin Kelly playing second, WVU has a young middle infield core. It’s early, but the duo doesn’t have an error yet. Kelly is helping at the plate, too, hitting .280. He was a little banged up after the first series with Georgia Southern, but he has two RBIs over the six games. As they have been in the first two series, Sabins expected them to bat towards the top of the order.

“[Ineich] and Gavin Kelly from the sophomore class perspective, position player side, I think that’s an extremely dynamic crew right there,” Sabins said. “That’s going to be really fun to watch.”

Wednesday, Feb. 25, WVU finally has its first home game against Ineich’s former team, Ohio, at 1 p.m. The Mountaineers were originally scheduled to play Canisius on Feb. 24, but the game was canceled due to forecasted cold temperatures. So, WVU scheduled the new home opener against the Bobcats.

Ohio looks like it misses Ineich early on in the season. The Bobcats are 1-6, with the lone win in the final game of a doubleheader against Murray State. Ohio was recently swept in a four-game series with Tennessee Tech.

The Bobcats’ offense hasn’t been too bad, but it definitely could use Ineich’s bat. Ohio averages a little over five runs per game, but it’s pretty inflated after a 15-run game. The pitching has struggled through the first seven games. Ohio has allowed seven runs a game and 51 total. WVU has played one less game, but it has allowed 16 for comparison.

Ohio hasn’t fared well against the Mountaineers, either. WVU has won the last five matchups against the Bobcats, and most recently won 8-4 last season at Kendrick Family Ballpark. Ineich went 1-for-5 in that game.

Before the season even started, Sabins knew Ineich was going to be an impact player for the Mountaineers and should be again against his former team, especially if history is an indication. Ineich has a hit in every game this season, so that’ll be something to watch for to see if he keeps that streak up.

“You guys are going to be fired up to watch Matt Ineich,” Sabins said. “He’s really special.”