Tournament Central
Photo Gallery
BECKLEY, W.Va. -- Shepherd and West Virginia State will meet for the MEC Baseball title for the second-straight year after the Rams and Yellow Jackets advanced on Saturday.
Shepherd moved on to the championship game with an 11-5 win over West Virginia State in the opening game of the day. West Liberty eliminated Notre Dame, 6-1, but came up on the short end of a 5-3 decision against the Yellow Jackets in the final game of the day.
The Rams and WVSU will play for the title starting at 1 p.m. in a rematch of last year's title tilt. Shepherd needs just one win to claim the championship, while West Virginia State needs to pick up two wins over the Rams to defend its MEC title.
Game Seven: Shepherd 11, West Virginia State 5 | Final Stats
Tre Porter hit a pair of home runs and Daniel Heleine also homered as Shepherd advanced to the MEC Baseball Tournament championship game with an 11-5 win over West Virginia State.
Porter hit a two-run home run in the top of the first inning, and then hit a solo shot in the second inning. Heleine came up later in the inning and blasted a two-run home run to help stake the Rams out to a 5-1 lead.
West Virginia State battled back scoring a run in the fourth and then cut the deficit to 5-4 on an RBI triple from Brandon Wright and an RBI single from Jacob Frantz. The Rams wasted no time in responding, though, plating four runs in the top of the next inning to put the game out of reach.
Sam Crater (9-0) went the distance allowing five runs on 12 hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
Tyler Hall (7-2) took the loss for West Virginia State giving up eight runs on 11 hits striking out
Game Eight: West Liberty 6, Notre Dame 1 | Final Stats
Sean Pare pitched a four-hitter as West Liberty eliminated Notre Dame, 6-1, on Saturday afternoon at Epling Stadium.
Pare (4-2) gave up just one run in nine innings of work walking for and striking out one. Four different Hilltoppers players contribute two hits: D.J. Busby, Jordan Meyer, Michael Adams and Ethan Estes. Estes hit a key two-run triple in the fifth inning that broke a 1-1 tie and gave WLU a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Cam Fuller (4-2) took the loss for the Falcons giving up four runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts and a pair of walks. Julio Rosales had a hit and the lone RBI for NDC.
Game Nine: West Virginia State 5, West Liberty 3 | Final Stats
West Virginia State advanced to the MEC title game for the third-straight year after dealing West Liberty a 5-3 loss on Saturday night.
West Liberty got on the board first in the bottom of the first with a couple of unearned runs. West Virginia State responded in its next at-bat pushing across three runs. The Yellow Jackets added two more in the top of the third to make it 5-2. West Liberty's D.J. Busby cut the deficit to 5-3 with an RBI single in the fourth.
The Hilltoppers had plenty of opportunities in the game out-hitting the Yellow Jackets 9-4. WLU, though, was just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. West Liberty had the go-ahead run at the plate in the eighth and the tying run at the plate in the ninth, but reliever Curtis Johnson got out of the jams and picked up his ninth save of the season and the second of the tournament.
Colby Gainer (3-1) earned the victory pitching eight innings and giving up three runs (one earned) on eight hits. Johnson allowed just one hit in two innings of work for the save.
Michael Adams went 3-for-5 to lead the WLU offense. Yale Hughes (4-7) took the loss after going four innings and giving up five runs (three earned) on just two hits. Tory Fuscardo pitched three scoreless innings in relief, and Anthony Bond and Nick Naumann pitched the final two innings.