MORGANTOWN — No. 15 West Virginia couldn’t get the bats going until it was too late Friday night and lost another series opener this season, falling to Houston.

The Mountaineers had a late seventh inning rally, but it wasn’t enough to overcome some struggling pitching and fielding to beat Houston, who won 10-7. WVU lost its fourth series opener in Big 12 play this season.

With the loss, WVU fell to 25-9 on the season and 10-6 in the Big 12. Houston picked up its fourth conference win and is now 17-19 on the year. WVU has a chance to rebound early on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. after the time was moved up due to weather in the afternoon, which will be broadcast on ESPN+.

“We obviously want to get the jump on these games,” head coach Steve Sabins said. “Give your team a little bit of energy, more momentum to win a series.”

WVU’s offense took too long to crack the Cougars starter Kendall Hoffman, who had a 4.70 ERA coming into the night. Hoffman is a long right-handed pitcher, standing at 6-foot-6. He held the Mountaineers hitless through the first two innings.

“I thought the first half of the game, offensively, we were a little bit flat,” Sabins said.

WVU landed on the boards in the third inning after designated hitter Zahir Barjam doubled to start the inning. Matt Ineich scored him on a single. Those were the only two hits until the bottom of the seventh inning.

“He was attacking us with aggression,” Ineich said. “He got us out of our approach a little bit. Usually, we’re able to make adjustments quickly. We didn’t make adjustments as quick as we needed. Props to him again. He’s one hell of a pitcher.”

In the bottom of the seventh, WVU’s bats started to get to Hoffman. Tyrus Hall started the inning with a solo shot, traveling 428 feet. It was Hall’s second homer of the season. Matthew Graveline followed the homer up with a single, and Armani Guzman singled right after. Ineich singled to score another and knock Hoffman out of the game. Hoffman pitched almost seven innings, had six hits, struck out just two batters and walked one batter.

WVU kept the rally going and scored another on a walk and a catcher’s interference. WVU had some life with Houston leading just 8-5, scoring four in the bottom of the seventh.

“The first half of the game offensively we were a little bit flat,” Sabins said. “Second half of the game were a lot better.”

The late rally wasn’t enough to overcome Houston’s offense that went to work early against WVU’s starter Dawson Montesa. Montesa worked his way out of a couple of tough situations, but started to lose it in the third inning. Houston scored four off Montesa in the third, which included a 422-foot home run from Cade Climie, making it 4-0.

In the top of the fifth, Montesa hurt himself, allowing a runner to advance on a pickoff error. The runner later scored on a single, ending his night. Montesa finished with four earned runs, two walks, seven hits and six strikeouts.

“The scout report on these guys, for the most part, was fastball down that they struggle with,” Sabins said. “Dawson’s a guy that rides the fastball down. His fastball goes up. He pitches up in the zone. We may have called too many fastballs down. We may have pitched to the scouting report rather than pitching to the pitcher strengths as well.”

Carson Estridge came in relief for Montesa and stopped the bleeding for the moment. The Mountaineers didn’t help Estridge and kicked the ball around a little. Houston scored three more with Estridge on the mound in the seventh inning, 8-1 Houston.

The seven-run deficit was too much to overcome for the Mountaineers, especially going dormant in the first six innings. The Mountaineers tallied nine hits. Ineich led the team with three hits. Sean Smith led the team with three RBIs.

Bryant Yolk did his part on the mound to allow for a comeback. He didn’t allow a run in the final three innings and struck out three. Steve Sabins went to David Perez in the ninth for the final two out. Perez let up a two-run homer, putting the game out of reach for WVU’s two more runs it scored in the bottom of the ninth, which made it 10-7.

Maxx Yehl is on the mound for the early start on Saturday morning, hoping to force a rubber match on Sunday. WVU hasn’t been swept in a series yet this season.

“You just got to go to bed and forget about it,” Ineich said. “We’ve dropped a few of these Friday night games home and away. You just got to flush it. Just go home, go to bed and come back to the park tomorrow.”