BECKLEY, W.Va. (Interstat) — A parade of five West Virginia pitchers combined on a one-hit shutout, and the Mountaineers scored all their runs in the first three innings to defeat Marshall 3-0 on Tuesday night at Linda K. Epling Stadium.

The most important part of the game came early, as West Virginia capitalized on a shaky start by Marshall’s Blaine Albright. The Mountaineers struck for two runs in the top of the first inning. Matt Ineich, Paul Schoenfeld and Matthew Graveline opened the game with three consecutive singles to load the bases. Brock Wills then grounded out to third, driving in Ineich. An RBI single by Gavin Kelly in the second inning, scoring Zahir Barjam, extended the lead to 3-0.

West Virginia added its final run in the third. Schoenfeld doubled, stole third and scored on a two-out single by Brodie Kresser, ending Albright’s outing. Albright (0-0) took the loss after surrendering three runs on five hits over 2 1/3 innings.

From there, the story was entirely about West Virginia’s dominant pitching staff. Starter David Hagen, named the top star for West Virginia, set the tone with three perfect innings, striking out three. Ian Korn followed with three more hitless frames, walking one and striking out three. Reese Bassinger was overpowering in the seventh and eighth, striking out five of the seven batters he faced, and David Perez worked a perfect ninth to seal the victory.

The lone hit for the Thundering Herd was a seventh-inning single by Oliver Service. Marshall managed only five baserunners total, with three walks and two hit batters, and advanced a runner to third base only once. The Herd went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and struck out 15 times.

Marshall’s bullpen was stellar in relief, keeping the game within reach. After Albright’s exit, Luke Proehl and Alex Caudill combined for 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out six. Caudill was particularly sharp, retiring all 10 batters he faced over the final 3 1/3 innings with four strikeouts.

Offensively for West Virginia, Schoenfeld went 2 for 4 with a double, a stolen base and two runs scored. Kelly and Kresser each drove in a run.

The victory improved West Virginia’s record to 17-4, while Marshall fell to 13-10. The game defied the projections of Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a high-scoring 8-7 win for the Mountaineers. The teams are scheduled to meet again in Morgantown on April 7.

West Virginia travels to face Arizona State for a three-game series starting Friday. Marshall opens a three-game home series against Coastal Carolina on Friday.