INSTITUTE, W.VA. – West Virginia State Baseball dropped a pair of close contests Monday, falling to Mountain East Conference foe Frostburg State in a doubleheader, 6-3 and 12-10, at Cal Bailey Field.
WVSU slips to 9-10 on the year and 2-6 in MEC play, while Frostburg improves to 16-4, 7-1.
Senior Brett Christian and freshman Nathan Paulsen each homered in the second contest and scored a pair of runs. Graduate student Andrew Stone scored four runs on the afternoon, including three in the finale.
GAME 1: FROSTBURG STATE 6, WVSU 3
Frostburg broke the blank first, plating two runs in the second and adding cushion in the third and fourth frames.
State began to chip away at the lead, scoring twice in the third inning and one run in the fourth to cut the Bobcats lead to 4-3.
In the third inning, Stone led off the frame with a four-pitch walk, stole second, and moved to third on a wild pitch. He then came home on a RBI groundout from junior Trey Junkins. Paulsen added the second run of the inning after also boarding via a walk and coming home a sacrifice fly from Michael Stone.
Andrew Stone has now led off with a walk to score State's first run of the game in their last three contests.
In the fourth, graduate student Andrew Sharp doubled to left center to lead off the inning, then scored on a sacrifice fly from catcher Dylan Ball.
Frostburg scored twice more in the seventh to add cushion and seal the victory, 6-3.
Sharp tallied two hits.
GAME 2: WVSU 10, FROSTBURG STATE 12
State delivered a thrilling nightcap performance, igniting for eight runs in the final two frames in a comeback attempt, highlighted by Christian and Paulsen's long balls.
Frostburg exploded in the opening frame of the finale, scoring five runs off four hits.
State got a run back in the bottom of the inning courtesy of the Stone brothers, as Michael brought in big brother Andrew after they each singled.
The Yellow Jackets added another run in the second, as Sharp scored after reaching on a throwing error and coming home on another Frostburg miscue. But the margin was short-lived, as the Bobcats scored again in each the fourth and fifth innings to add to their lead, capitalizing on a pair of homers, a statistic they top the league in.
State threatened in the fifth, leaving two men aboard after getting both into scoring position, and then continued to work their comeback, plating four runs in the sixth.
After singling his way on, shortstop Brett Christian advanced and scored on three straight walks- those free passes coming to freshman Dante Zamudio, A. Stone, and Paulsen.
With bases loaded, Junkins delivered a RBI groundout to bring home Zamudio, and then a Bobcats error allowed both Paulsen and Stone to score.
Frostburg stole the momentum back with a three-run homer in the seventh, and then Christian launched his solo shot down the left field line to open a scoring explosion for State. Paulsen cranked a two-run shot to bring himself and A. Stone home, and then Junkins scored on a double from graduate student Matthew Kline before the flame was doused at 12-10 for Frostburg.
Paulsen led the way with three hits in the game, while the trio of Christian, Andrew Stone, and Kline each posted two hits each.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets return to the road, heading north to face West Liberty Saturday and Wheeling Sunday in a pair of doubleheaders. Live stats and video will be provided, and both days are slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
