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HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors baseball team (5-6) battled out a tight contest with West Virginia (6-2) on Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium. The Mountaineers broke away from a tie game in the middle innings and close-out pitching confirmed the 4-1 West Virginia to split the series at 1-1.

This night it was the Mountaineers who struck first, putting up a run in the opening stanza. While UH starter Kyle Von Ruden was locating well, putting in 15-of-16 first-inning pitches for strikes, WVU was able to notch three hits, including Jackson Cramer's RBI single through the left side for the 1-0 advantage.

The 'Bows got it going on offense and tied the game up in the fourth. Back-to-back singles by right fielder Alex Fitchett and left fielder Alan Baldwin placed two runners in scoring position. With the table set, designated hitter Casey Ryan shot a perfectly-placed RBI single through the right side.

WVU was quick to take the run back, capitalizing on an error during a sacrifice bunt to place runners at second and third base in the fifth. Right fielder Darius Hill made it count, sending a sacrifice fly to left field to send left fielder Kyle Gray home for the unearned run on the throw, pushing WVU back in the lead, 2-1. The UH defense locked down and halted the WVU advance at only one run.

However, the Mountaineers followed up in the sixth with back-to-back extra hits to extend their lead. Cramer led off with a double, while KC Huth followed with a two-out RBI double deep to center field. Gray capped off the inning with an RBI triple to the right center wall, pushing WVU ahead 4-1.

Both pitching staffs settled in for the final three innings, as Von Ruden worked through the eighth with no further runs before yielding to Ryan, moving over from DH, and WVU's Ross Vance combined with Michael Grove to strand four UH runners and preserve the 4-1 WVU victory.

Von Ruden (1-1) took the loss for UH, going 8.0 innings for the second straight game, allowing three earned runs on nine hits, striking out a season-best six batters with no walks.

For the Mountaineers, Ross (3-0) pitched 7.0 innings with one earned run, walking two and striking out four. Grove (1) earned the save after 2.0 frames, allowing two hits and striking out three.

At the plate, Fitchett went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Ryan was 1-for-4 with one RBI.

Freshman catcher Kekai Rios added a pair of sound defensive plays, combining with shortstop Jacob Sheldon-Collins to catch two Mountaineers stealing base.

The Rainbow Warriors and Mountaineers return to action for the third game of the series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium.