INSTITUTE, W.Va. - - Visiting UVa-Wise and West Virginia State split a Mountain East Conference baseball doubleheader at Cal Bailey Field Friday. The host Yellow Jackets used a complete game shutout from Colby Gainer to claim a 1-0 win in game one before a nine-run ninth inning propelled the Cavaliers to an 18-12 triumph in the finale.
Gainer and Nathan Hatmaker locked up in a pitcher's duel in the opener despite a shaky first inning for both hurlers.
UVa-Wise (14-22, 8-10 MEC) got back-to-back hits with two outs in the inning before Gainer induced an inning ending groundout to the pitcher to hang a zero.
In the home half of the frame, the Yellow Jackets' (13-19, 6-12 MEC) Brandon Wright singled to lead off the inning and after a fielder's choice put Christopher Jordan on first the freshman went to third when Trayvis Patterson executed a bunt single that also led to a Cavalier error.
Jordan would be unable to score as Hatmaker would get Matt Washington to ground into a 4-6 fielder's choice to retire the side.
From that point, neither school would get a runner in scoring position until the top of the sixth inning when West Virginia State gave the visitors a chance with an error. Freshman Jordan Turner reached first on the error with one out in the frame and moved to second a hitter later when fellow freshman Nate Thompson laced a single to centerfield.
Gainer would get out of the jam by striking out Trevor Nevill and getting Stuart Paz to fly out to left field keeping the game scoreless.
Thompson would be the last Cavalier to reach base as Gainer retired the final five men he faced in the complete game effort.
His offense produced the only run of the game when Washington lined a one-out single and moved to third on Jalen Benjamin's double in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman Trevor Sampson would be the hero of the day when his bloop single found grass over a drawn in infield allowing Washington to score the winning run.
Gainer (2-5) struck out six against zero walks while scattering three hits in the complete game effort; UVa-Wise batters hit just five balls out of the infield in the contest.
Hatmaker (3-6) was the hard luck loser. The left-hander struck out six without issuing a walk while surrendering six hits.
Thompson, Nevill and Paz had one hit each for the Cavaliers, Benjamin's double for the Yellow Jackets was the only extra-base hit in the contest.
West Virginia State carried the momentum from game one over to the start of game two as a three-run homer by Washington gave the Yellow Jackets a 3-0 lead after one inning of play.
Hank Banner's club responded by having seven consecutive batters reach base with two outs in the second as part of a five-run frame. Jordan Turner and David Thomas had two RBI each in the inning with the fifth run coming on a West Virginia State error.
The score would remain unchanged until the top of the fifth when redshirt freshman Josha Haga drove home Nevill to make the score 6-3.
The Yellow Jackets would get a pair of runs back in the home fifth on a run-scoring hit by Jordan and a run-scoring hit by Patterson.
West Virginia State would regain the lead in the seventh by plating four runs on two hits and a pair of errors. Patterson had a two-RBI hit in the frame while Sampson knocked in a run during the big inning. While the Yellow Jackets took the lead, the hosts missed a chance at inflicting more damage as UVa-Wise freshman Will Stamper would get a pop up to end the frame with the bases loaded.
Trailing 9-6, the Cavaliers bounced back with a three-run frame in the top of the eighth. Stuart Paz would provide the offensive damage as he lined a two-run single with the bases loaded, the third run of the inning would come on an error allowing the visitors to tie the game at nine.
Sophomore Dylan Luttrell would hang a zero in the home half of the eighth inning to set the stage for the top of the ninth.
Junior Matt Wright got the inning started with a solo homer to give the Cavaliers a 10-9 lead. It would be the first of nine runs in the frame as Thompson, Thomas, Cal Bailey, Nevill, Dante Salerno and Blaum had an RBI each while Haga added a two-run single.
Down 18-9, the Yellow Jackets would score three runs but senior Devon Morning would enter with the bases loaded and two outs to get the final out to seal the win.
The 18 runs were a season-high for UVa-Wise as the Cavaliers also lined a season-high 19 hits. Turner, Wright, Haga and Salerno had three hits each while Blaum and Thomas added two hits each in the win.
Thomas and Haga led the team with three RBI each while Turner, Wright and Salerno scored three runs each.
The series concludes tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
