MORGANTOWN — There was a lot of talk of new transfers coming in and making an impact, but it was a lot of the returners who helped West Virginia baseball to its first win of the season.

The returning players helped to a big six run in the sixth inning, beating Georgia Southern in Game 1 of a three-game opening series, 15-3. This was the third straight season WVU started with a win. The last time the Mountaineers lost a season-opener was in 2023 against Georgia Southern. The Mountaineers lost that three-game series.

“We just continue to hit, and that’s going to be part of our identity,” Armani Guzman said.

WVU’s next two games are a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 14, with the first game starting at 2 p.m. on ESPN+. The third game will start 45 minutes after the first. The third game was rescheduled due to bad weather on Feb. 15.

The Mountaineers were down 3-2 at the start of the sixth. After two walks, last year’s shortstop and now first baseman, Brodie Kresser, singled to load the bases. Then, WVU veteran right fielder Ben Lumsden hit a sacrifice fly, tying the game. Georgia Southern walked in another, giving WVU its first lead of the game.

Last year’s star freshman, second baseman Gavin Kelly, came to the plate and dropped in a single, scoring two. 25-game starter center fielder. Guzman came in and doubled, scoring two more. The bats woke up, and WVU was up 8-3. Six RBIs came from members of last year’s team.

“We were just making sure to win every pitch,” Guzman said.

Guzman went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two doubles. JUCO transfer third baseman Tyrus Hall had a strong debut for the Mountaineers. He went 3-for-3 and scored four runs, along with stealing two bases. Kelly was 1-for-4 with two RBIs.

Luckily, the bats came alive later in the game because the pitching struggled early on. The pitching was supposed to be a strength for the Mountaineers coming into the season, but the early arms were still getting used to being on the mound.

Division II transfer Chansen Cole got the nod for the first start of the season, but the youngster spent a lot of the night trying to find control. Cole found himself in a jam in all three innings he took the mound. He walked on a runner and allowed another on a fielder’s choice in the first inning. Georgia Southern’s Bryson Trammell dropped one in to score the first run of the game.

The second inning was similar. Cole let up back-to-back hits, then advanced the runners on a wild pickoff. Cole allowed another run on a fielder’s choice. He limited the damage, getting a long flyout in the gap, but it was still 2-0 for the Eagles after two.

Cole’s night ended in the third inning, adding two more runners. In his first start for the Mountaineers, Cole had two earned runs, four hits, two walks and three strikeouts, throwing 63 pitches.

Bryson Thacker came in to relieve and cleaned up Cole’s mess. But, in the next inning, Thacker allowed a run of his own on a James McCoy sac fly.

Reese Bassinger, who had a 7-1 record for the Mountaineers in 2025, came in to shut things down. Bassinger pitched three innings, struck out five batters and walked two. J.J. Glasscock closed it out for WVU, striking out one.

“[Bassinger] is old reliable,” Guzman said. “We call him ‘unc.'”

The Mountaineers tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning, after the Eagles had some throwing errors, to close the game out.