INSTITUTE, W.VA. – West Virginia State University opened up a MEC series with Glenville State University on Friday afternoon. 

The Yellow Jackets dropped the opener 6-2, but rebounded later in the afternoon with a 4-3 win in the second game. WVSU rallied for three runs in their last at bat of the day, ultimately walking off the Pioneers on a wild pitch. 

State now holds a 15-16 overall record and a 7-11 mark in MEC play. 
 

GAME 1: GSU 6 - WVSU 2

Glenville broke through early, plating a run in the opening frame on a pair of singles. State threatened with two men on via walks, but remained scoreless.

The Pioneers added two runs in the second, using four consecutive singles followed by a passed ball to push their lead to 3-0.

The Yellow Jackets threatened again in the third with another two men on, as graduate student Andrew Stone walked and junior Trey Junkins singled up the middle, State's first hit of the afternoon.

Glenville added another run in the fourth, and then added two in the fifth for a 6-0 advantage. State finally got on the board in the bottom of that frame, loading the bases after senior Brett Christian singled down to third base, advanced after Stone was hit by pitch, and moved to third on an infield single from Junkins. Freshman Nathan Paulsen brought Christian home on a hard groundout up the middle.

Stone then scored on a sacrifice fly from graduate student Matthew Kline, trimming the deficit to 6-2, which it would remain for the duration of the contest.

Starter Nick Loftis struck out seven and allowed just one walk in a complete game effort.

GAME 2: WVSU 4 - GSU 3

Glenville picked up right where they left off in game two by scoring a pair of runs on two hits in the top of the first inning. 

Andrew Stone led off the bottom of the first with a single for the Yellow Jackets. Later in the inning he came in to score on a wild pitch to make it a 2-1 game. 

At that point the game settled into a stalemate with the pitching staffs on both sides holding the upper hand. 

Southpaw Daniel Brandon kept the Pioneer batters off balance in the both the second and third innings. 

GSU broke through with a run on a fielder's choice in the fourth, but they were held in check the rest of the way. 

WVSU threatened in their half of the sixth inning, but ultimately stranded a pair of runners on base. 

Cameron Lewis entered from the bullpen in the top of the seventh, and he worked around a two-out single to keep the score at 3-1. 

The Yellow Jackets got a leadoff single from Ryan Kay to start the bottom of the seventh which set the table for a big inning. Brett Christian was hit by a pitch to bring the winning run to the plate, but the next two batters went down via strikeout. 

Trey Junkins stepped to the plate for his fourth at bat of the game. In a 1-1 count he laced a single into right field to score both Kay and Christian to tie the game at 3-3. On that same play the GSU right fielder made a throwing error which allowed Junkins to advance all of the way to third base. 

The Pioneers went to the bullpen for a pitching change, but a wild pitch in Nathan Paulsen's at bat allowed Junkins to score the winning run for WVSU. 

With his scoreless inning of relief Lewis earned his second win of the season. 

Junkins was 3-4 on the game with the two RBIs and the game-winning run. 

UP NEXT

WVSU continues their home stand with another doubleheader with Glenville State Saturday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m., with live stats and video available for both contests.