WASHINGTON, Pa. - - UVa-Wise and West Liberty split a Mountain East Conference baseball doubleheader in the league opener for both schools Saturday. The Hilltoppers claimed a 10-1 win in the opener before the Cavaliers pounded out 25 hits in a 21-2 triumph as part of its highest run total as a NCAA Division II member.
West Liberty (2-12, 1-1 MEC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the home first of the opener on a two-run homer by Coby Eckstein and never looked back. The 'Toppers busted the game open with a six-run fourth inning that featured RBI doubles by Chad Matthus and Tyler Ramsay and a two-run single by Bailey McGrath.
UVa-Wise (7-12, 1-1 MEC) scored its lone run of the game on a run-scoring hit by Tyler Blaum in the third inning.
Parker Dyson improved to 1-3 on the mound as he tossed six innings of three-hit, one-run ball. The left-hander fanned nine and walked three before Mitch Viakley pitched a perfect seventh inning to record the win.
The Cavaliers quickly responded with a four-run opening frame in game two. The first five UVa-Wise hitters reached base to lead off the inning as the visitors took a 2-0 lead on a two-run double by Blaum. It was one of three doubles in the game for Blaum who finished 3-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored. Ethan Fletcher's RBI single scored the third run before an RBI groundout by Jordon Turner staked starter Greg Duncan to a four-run cushion.
Duncan faced trouble in the first as the right-hander had allowed two of the first three men he faced to reach base. After a mound visit, the hurler retired the next two men to end the scoring threat. It would be the start of nine consecutive hitters returning to the dugout for Duncan as he struck out five during the span.
UVa-Wise effectively put the game out of reach in the second with a seven run inning. Brett Yates had an RBI single, Blaum plated two with a double, and Cal Bailey, Turner, Matthew Church and Brock Smith each had a run-scoring hit in the big inning.
A five-run third inning pushed the lead to 16-0 as Bailed doubled in a pair and junior Tristan Peccerelli produced one of his three hits on the day that led to a run.
Smith's sacrifice fly made it 17-0 in the fourth before Bret Roberts and Yates each had an RBI in the sixth to make it 19-0, the Cavs tacked on their 20th run on an error to reach the mark for the first time as a NCAA Division II member.
Fletcher belted the second homer of his UVa-Wise career in the seventh for the club's final run before West Liberty scored a pair of runs in the home half of the inning to provide the final tally.
Bailey finished with four hits to lead a 25-hit effort for the Cavs; the four hits were a career-high for the senior.
All nine players in the starting lineup lined at least two hits in the win. Smith reached base four times as did Turner, Bailey, Peccerelli, Roberts and Yates.
Duncan tossed five innings allowed two hits, fanned seven and issued a walk to improve to 3-0 on the season.
The doubleheader was played in brutal weather conditions, for most of the day snow flurried from the sky while the wind howled at speeds upwards of 25 mph with a game time temperate of 38*.
UVa-Wise will wrap up the road trip with a doubleheader tomorrow against Wheeling Jesuit; again, the games are set to played at Wild Thing Park, home of the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League.
