BECKLEY, W.VA. – West Virginia State Baseball climbed back through the consolation bracket of the Mountain East Conference Tournament, defeating West Liberty 8-1 Saturday at Linda K. Epling Stadium.
State will play at 1:00 p.m. Sunday in the Championship and will face either Concord or could look to seek revenge against Alderson Broaddus from the first round of tournament play Thursday. Live stats and video will be provided. The "if necessary" game would begin at approximately 4:30 p.m., if needed.
West Virginia State improves to 30-8 on the season, while West Liberty finishes the year on a 21-19 clip.
Four Yellow Jackets turned in multi-hit performances, including catcher
Andrew Massey, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI in the victory. Outfielders
Jared Hunt and
Michael Stone each doubled twice in the game, while Hunt scored twice. Designated hitter
Matthew Kline also registered two hits on the afternoon.
The game was a stalemate until the fourth, when third baseman
Christopher Jordan led off the frame with a walk. He advanced to second on a flyout, and scored on a long single from Kline to right field for the first run of the contest.
State built its lead to 2-0 in the fifth after Hunt began the inning with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch, and came home on a groundout from Massey.
The Hilltoppers cut the lead in half in the bottom of that frame, taking advantage of three walks before a single to left field brought in their lone run of the game.
WVSU added cushion in the sixth, plating five runs for a 6-1 advantage. Outfielder
Trey Junkins doubled home both Kline and first baseman
Matt Harrison to go up 4-1. Junkins himself then came home on a wild pitch, and a fielding error allowed both shortstop
Brett Christian and Massey to score. Both had boarded earlier via walks.
The Yellow Jackets scored their final run of the game in the eighth. Hunt again led off the inning with a double, coming home courtesy of Massey with a single to center field.
Junior
Foster Conis got the start, tossing 4.1 innings, and senior
Clark Reese improved to 2-0, hurling the same amount in relief while fanning six.