Aiden Coleman tossed five shutout innings and fanned a career-high seven and Jimmy Kunst added two scoreless innings in relief to lead Pitt-Johnstown to a 3-0 victory over West Virginia State in the opening game of a non-conference doubleheader to begin the 2026 season in Charleston, W.Va.  The Yellow Jackets answered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh in game two to get the split with an 11-10 win.
 
In the opener, Pitt-Johnstown broke a scoreless tie with three unearned runs in the top of the seventh.  Pinch hitter Tate Minich was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Tyler Danko drew a one-out walk.  Minich and Danko both came around to score on Alex Ebeling's fly ball that was misplayed by West Virginia State left fielder Carter Ruffner to give the Mountain Cats the lead.  Jared Dowey followed with an RBI base hit up the middle make it 3-0.
 
That's all Pitt-Johnstown would need.  Kunst tossed two scoreless innings in relief of Coleman to pick up the win.  Kunst didn't allow a hit or a walk and fanned three of the seven batters he faced.
 
Dowey went 1-for-3 with an RBI and Danko singled to account for the two Mountain Cat base hits.
 
Both teams got strong pitching from their starters, but neither factored in the decision.  Coleman went the first five innings and held the Yellow Jackets scoreless on two hits, while striking out a career-high seven and walking just one.  West Virginia State's Cam Reed allowed one hit and fanned six in five scoreless innings.
 
Hunter McSweeney suffered the loss after allowing the three unearned runs in the seventh.
 
In the nightcap, the Mountain Cats loaded the bases in the top of the first on a hit-by-pitch and two walks and scratched out two runs on Karson Reffner's RBI fielder's choice and a West Virginia State fielding error.
 
The Yellow Jackets answered to tie with two unearned runs in the bottom of the second, but three more runs from the Mountain Cats in the top of the third pushed it out to 5-2.  Danko's triple to center chased home Lucas Muffie and Nathan Helms, and Danko scored on a wild pitch.
 
Two more runs in the bottom of the third off of Pitt-Johnstown starter Brian Pirone and two more in the fifth off of Cole Sansom, including Angel Oquendo's RBI double, put West Virginia State on top, 6-5.
 
Pitt-Johnstown took advantage of two Yellow Jacket errors in the to top of the fifth and came away with three unearned runs to regain the lead, before Brodie Guenther's two-run single in the bottom of the frame knotted it again.
 
The Mountain Cats took the lead for the fourth time when Aidan Steinbugl scored from third on Helm's two-out single to center in the top of the sixth, and added another run in the seventh on Steinbugl's triple to left-center.
 
However, Pitt-Johnstown reliever Ty Decker loaded the bases to start the bottom of the seventh.  Decker then hit Garrett Wagoner with a pitch and walked Aiden Paulson to even it at 10, and Ethan Spolarich delivered a walk-off base hit to give the Yellow Jackets the 11-10 victory.
 
Helms went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Danko tripled, drove in one, and scored two for the Mountain Cats.  Brodie Roberts Steinbugl each added a triple, and RBI and a run.
 
The Mountain Cats will conclude the season-opening series at West Virginia State with a pair of games on Saturday, before playing a four-game non-conference series at East Stroudsburg on Feb. 21-22.