INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University baseball team hosted Saginaw Valley State and Illinois-Springfield on Friday and Saturday at Shawnee Sports Complex. The Yellow Jackets put runs on the scoreboard without issue, but were unable to prevent their opponents from circling the bases.

Game 1: Saginaw Valley State 13, West Virginia State 8, F/9

On Friday afternoon, West Virginia State played nine innings against Saginaw Valley State to start off the invitational tournament. The Cardinals built up an 8-1 lead by the fourth inning to discourage the Yellow Jackets. WVSU did not wither, however, and mounted a rally beginning in the fifth inning.

West Virginia State got a run across in the fifth and sixth innings to get back within five runs of Saginaw Valley State. Then, in the bottom of the seventh, the Yellow Jackets tied up the game.

They loaded up the bases with the first three at bats of the half inning and then put the ball in play to score a couple of runs. With two outs and a 3-2 count, Andrew Stone crushed a long fly ball that ricocheted off the fence in dead center for a base-clearing double.

The Cardinals quickly ruined the seven-run comeback in the top of the eighth by scoring four runs. They added one more run in the ninth.

Game 2: Illinois-Springfield 11, West Virginia State 3, F/9

West Virginia State needed to recover hastily in order to play a fully-rested Illinois-Springfield in another nine-inning game on the same day. The Yellow Jackets were on par with the Prairie Stars for the opening four innings until fatigue set in. A four-run fifth inning followed up by a three-run sixth inning by Illinois-Springfield created an insurmountable lead.

Game 3: Illinois-Springfield 10, West Virginia State 7, F/9

On Saturday, West Virginia State got to rest while Illinois-Springfield won the first game of the day, 9-2, against Saginaw Valley State.

The Prairie Stars opened up the scoring with a grand slam in the second. Three runs were then scored by the Yellow Jackets in the fifth to close the gap to one run. Austin Martin singled through the right side of the infield to score two of the runs.

A costly error at the beginning of the sixth inning resulted in five unearned runs being scored by the Prairie Stars. They gained a six-run advantage, 9-3, with the fielding mistake.

West Virginia State managed to get four runs across in the last four innings, but still couldn't catch up to Illinois-Springfield.