ETTRICK, Va. - - UVA Wise and Virginia State University spent a long day at the ballpark Sunday as the two schools split a non-conference baseball doubleheader. In total, 637 pitches were thrown with the most remarkable feat of the day coming from Virginia State game two starter Jeremiah Hardy. The graduate student uncorked 147 pitches on the chilly February evening to allow the Trojans to salvage a game of the four game set with a 9-8 win. Hardy's gutsy performance followed an 8-4 UVA Wise win in the opener behind a 3-for-5 game at the plate from first baseman Tyler Horvath. The Cavaliers won the first two games of the series Saturday.

UVA Wise (4-3) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in game one as Hank Banner's club took advantage of three walks and a hit batter along with a two-run double by Horvath and a two-run single by Matthew Branham to gain the early advantage.

Virginia State (2-5) countered with a pair of runs in the home half of the inning to start a day full of offense. Kevin Russell and Josh Tayman had RBI hits in the frame only to see the lead balloon back to five due to an RBI double by Tyler Blaum and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Gabe Wurtz in the top of the second.

The Trojans would get a run in the home second but would strand the bases loaded and the missed opportunity would prove costly.

The Cavaliers would go to the bullpen and insert sophomore right-hander Garrett Stiltner who would calm things down. The Johnson City, Tenn. product would toss four innings of one run ball while scattering three hits and striking out three to improve to 1-0 on the mound in 2020.

UVA Wise added a single run in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by senior Tristan Peccerelli before sophomore Tyler Hayes tossed a scoreless seventh to give the Cavs the series win and the program's third consecutive victory.

Patience was key to the win as UVA Wise worked nine walks in the game, Blaum and Wurtz were walked three times each. Blaum, Wurtz and Bret Roberts scored a pair of runs each to aid an offense that struck for seven hits.

Carl Granderson sparked the Trojan offense from the leadoff spot as the shortstop finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored. Cecil Henderson also added a pair of hits, including an RBI double.

Banner's squad seemed to be well on its way to a four-game series sweep after 2 ½ innings of play in the series finale. Dawson Cagle and Wurtz each had an RBI in the opening inning to make it 2-0 Cavs before a run-scoring hit by Cagle plated Ethan Fletcher to extend the lead to 3-0 going to the bottom of the third.

Virginia State pushed one across in the home half of the inning on an RBI groundout by Henderson and made it a one run game after four innings thanks to a wild pitch.

Leading 3-2, UVA Wise would score two runs in the fifth and sixth inning. In the fifth frame, Blaum lined a two-run double before a wild pitch and another RBI hit by Blaum in the sixth inning made it a 7-2 contest.

The Trojans would come off the mat down five with just three outs to play with in the seventh inning. Virginia State would have six consecutive batters reach base with one out in the inning to tie the game before UVA Wise would force extra innings by getting Granderson to fly to right field for the final out of the frame after Virginia State bunted a runner into scoring position for the second out.

Yet another run-scoring hit by Blaum would give the Cavs the lead in the top of the eighth only to see the Trojans force a ninth inning off a bases loaded walk.

The hosts would eventually capture victory on an unearned run as a two-out error started a rally that was capped by a Josh Heigh RBI single to right field.

Hardy allowed 11 hits, eight runs (seven earned), walked five and struck out five in the complete game outing to earn the win.

Blaum finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored. Overall, the catcher finished the day 4-for-5 with five RBI and three runs scored. The big day allowed the Mechanicsville, Va. native to surpass 200 total bases for his career becoming the 17th player in school history to do so and just the third catcher.

UVA Wise is scheduled to return to action Friday at Southern Wesleyan where the team begins a three-game series with a single nine inning game. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.