INSTITUTE, W.Va. - - After a day off due to rain, UVa-Wise and West Virginia State concluded their four game Mountain East Conference baseball series Monday with each school winning a game forging a four-game split. The host Yellow Jackets took game one 11-2 before the Cavaliers busted out to a 6-0 lead in the finale and held on a 6-4 triumph.
Game one saw the Yellow Jackets (17-18, 12-7 MEC) score in each of their trips to the plate. West Virginia State struck first when Connor Slagill hit his conference leading 11th homer of the year with two out and none on in the home first.
An inning later, the hosts pushed across two runs on a run-scoring hit by Antonio Brown and a RBI single by Trevor Sampson.
UVa-Wise (19-18, 13-7 MEC) cut the lead to 3-1 in the top of the third on a two-out RBI single by Brett Yates but would be unable to get any closer as West Virginia State scored two runs in the third and two in the fourth to take a 7-1 lead.
The lead would prove to be insurmountable as Yellow Jackets' starter Hunter Bradley scattered seven hits in a complete game effort. The win was the fourth of the year for Bradley who allowed just one earned run in the contest.
Andrew Massey also homered for West Virginia State as the Yellow Jackets laced 14 hits, including four for extra bases in the game one triumph.
Bret Roberts finished 2-for-3 to lead UVa-Wise, as a team the Cavs tallied seven hits.
Game two saw the Cavs bust out to a 4-0 lead after two innings of play. A West Virginia State error allowed UVa-Wise to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first before the visitors used RBI doubles by Tyler Blaum and Brett Yates and a RBI groundout by Roberts to make it a 4-0 game in the top of the second.
Two innings later, former John I. Burton standout Matthew Branham belted his first homer of the season to make it a 5-0 game.
In the sixth, the Cavs seemingly put the game out of reach when Blaum singled home Roberts to make it a 6-0 game.
UVa-Wise starter Trevor Nevill would depart after the fifth inning in what was the finest start of his collegiate career. The left-hander scattered three hits, struck out four and walked just one in five innings of work before turning the game over to the bullpen.
West Virginia State would take advantage of an error and score four unearned runs in the sixth inning. The inning was nearly more bountiful for the Yellow Jackets as it required a diving catch by left fielder David Thomas to prevent another run from scoring and the inning continuing.
After the Cavs failed to score in the top of the seventh, West Virginia State put the first man on in the home seventh with a base hit. From there, UVa-Wise skipper Hank Banner inserted freshman Tyler Hayes into the game.
Hayes would allow a bunt base hit to Christopher Jordan before a sacrifice bunt put the tying run at second with just one out.
With the league's leading home run hitter Connor Slagill stepping to the plate, Banner elected to intentionally walk the slugger putting the winning run on base.
Hayes would then induce a sharp ground ball off the bat of Matthew Kline that would be fielded by shortstop Jordon Turner. The junior would flip to Roberts at second base who would throw to Blaum at first just in the nick of time to end the game with a 6-4-3 double play.
The win was the second of the year for Nevill (2-1) while Hayes recorded the third save of his freshman season.
Roberts, Blaum, Yates and Cal Bailey had two hits each to lead a 10-hit effort for UVa-Wise. Yates' second hit of the day gives him 167 for his career, moving him to 10th all-time in school history.
Defense was pivotal in the contest as West Virginia State committed five errors on their home turf compared to just one for UVa-Wise.
With the win, the Cavs are in a two-way tie for second place in the MEC South Division. The club will welcome MEC South Division leader Charleston to Stallard Field this weekend for a four-game series. Game one is scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m.
