CHARLESTON, W.VA. – In a rematch 753 days in the making and a contest that took over five hours to play, complete with an incredible five rain delays, West Virginia State Baseball fell short in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Elimination game Friday at Welch Athletic Complex. The Yellow Jackets dropped their final contest of the 2021 season to cross-county rivals Charleston 12-8.

After issues relating to COVID-19 prevented the two squads from squaring off in the final series of the regular season in early May, the two faced off for the first time since May 5, 2019.

State, the Mountain East Conference Champions, finishes the season at 32-10. Charleston improves to 32-12 and will face Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Champion Bloomsburg Saturday.

Friday's game also marked the final contest of their careers for infielders Christopher Jordan and Matt Harrison, outfielder Jared Hunt, designated hitter Antonio Brown, and pitchers Ethan Lauchart and Jacob Bradley.

Jordan and sophomore Trey Junkins were the only multi-hit performers on the day, churning out two hits each and scoring.

State plated a run in the bottom of the first (serving as the home team due to higher seeding), wasting no time to take a 1-0 lead.

Leadoff hitter Michael Stone singled to left field, advancing two bases on back-to-back groundouts to the shortstop. A wild pitch brought him home, putting WVSU with the advantage.

UC used a leadoff walk, a pair of hits, and a double play to plate the equalizer the following frame.

A 46-minute rain delay ensued, leaving the game at a stalemate until the sixth inning, when the Golden Eagles scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly.

The Golden Eagles used timely hits and took advantage of a few State hurried throws, combined with another rain delay (21 minutes) to plate a pair of runs in the seventh and score four more times in the eighth to build an 8-1 lead. 

Despite a third rain delay lasting nearly 22 minutes, WVSU threatened in the eighth with a five-run rally.   Michael Stone again led off, this time reaching second on a two-base error. He advanced to third after Jordan beat out an infield single, and then the bases loaded up after Harrison boarded via hit-by-pitch. Andrew Stone pushed a sac fly to bring in his brother, and then Jordan scored after designated hitter Matthew Kline sliced a ball to left field. Sophomore Trey Junkins followed that up with his own single to left, bringing Harrison across the plate.

A third-straight single to left field for the Jackets- this one coming from Brendan Quinn, who entered the game at second base the previous inning- gave Kline the opportunity to plate a run, bringing the score to 8-5. Brown was walked to keep the bases loaded before the field was cleared for weather, and then Junkins scored the final run of the frame after shortstop Brett Christian took four straight pitches for a RBI walk to make it 8-6.

Charleston responded with a leadoff double followed by a homer and a single to deep left center to add cushion, scoring four times to widen the gap to 12-6.

The Yellow Jackets continued to battle, when Stoney reached on a UC error with two outs in the ninth to keep the threat alive. A walk to Kline put two men on, and Junkins connected for his second hit of the day to bring Stone home. A fielder's choice allowed Quinn to reach and load the bases for junior catcher Cole Kiddy, who entered the previous inning after Brown pinch hit for State's starting catcher Andrew Massey.

Kiddy connected for a blooper in front of the Golden Eagles' catcher who misplayed it and welcomed Kline across the plate for the Yellow Jackets' final run of the day.