BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – UVa-Wise and West Virginia Wesleyan split a pair of Mountain East Conference baseball games Sunday afternoon at Hank Ellis Field. Behind sophomore Greg Duncan's 6 2/3 innings performance, the visiting Cavaliers took the opener 6-1 before the Bobcats pitching trio of Griffin Roe, Sean Cliff and Chris Metrick combined on a four-hitter to win game two 4-1.
UVa-Wise (15-25, 12-14 MEC) got off to a fast with a run in the top of the first of the opener. Redshirt junior Brett Yates reached base on an error to lead off the game before later scoring on a run-scoring single by David Thomas.
West Virginia Wesleyan (11-30) would be unable to take advantage of its opportunities against Duncan. The Bobcats would get two on with one out in the second but the Bobcats hit into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play.
The Cavaliers would add on a pair of runs in the third inning as Brock Smith and Matt Wright each had run-scoring hits.
In the fourth inning an RBI by Stuart Paz pushed Hank Banner's club lead to 4-0 before Tyler Blaum doubled home Josh Haga in the fifth to push the advantage to five runs.
UVa-Wise plated its sixth run on a RBI double by Thomas before WVWC scored its only run of the game on a RBI groundout in the sixth.
Yates, Thomas, Blaum and Haga had two hits each as part of a 13-hit effort in the opener.
Duncan improved his record to 5-4 as he scattered six hits, struck out six and walked four.
In game two, WVWC pushed across a pair of runs as Josh Petit lined a two-run single in the top of the first.
Petit lifted a sacrifice fly to left field in the third to make it a 3-0 lead before an RBI groundout by Sam Ross made it 4-0 after five innings.
In the sixth, UVa-Wise got on the board thanks to a sacrifice fly off the bat of Blaum but Metrick came in relief to shut the door and earn the save with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Haga had two of the Cavs' four hits in the loss, while Dawson Cagle scored the team's only run.
On the hill, RJ Vanvickle surrendered four runs in 4 1/3 innings of work to drop to 2-5 on the year. Matthew Wilkinson pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief as he struck out one while allowing a pair of hits.
The two schools will wrap up the series Monday with a doubleheader in Buckhannon.
