Box Score
BECKLEY, W.Va. -- With their season on the line, the Notre Dame Falcons endured a pair of come from behind efforts from West Liberty, as the Falcons defeated the Hilltoppers, 8-7, in 10 innings on Friday morning to advance to the third day of play at the Mountain East Conference tournament. 

The Notre Dame (25-21) offense went on a tear after being blanked the day before, as they torched the West Liberty (26-24) pitching staff for eight runs, on a season high, 18 hits.  The loss for the Hilltoppers was their third in five games against the Falcons this season, and brings their season to an end.  

With the victory, the Falcons are still alive in the MEC tournament.  They will play at least once (3 p.m.) on Saturday, and if they win that game, they will have to play again at 7 p.m.  Their opponent has not been determined yet.  

Notre Dame seized control early on, as they led by four runs on a pair of occasions.  The scoring started in the top of the third inning, as the Falcons plated two runs with two outs. Jarlys Mejia was on second base when Keifer Quick smashed a triple to left center, bringing Mejia around to give NDC a 1-0 advantage, and Quick scored just a few moments later on Bryan Blondeaux's single through the left side. 

The Falcons added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning.  It started with Mike Ferguson's single, which was one of four hits on the day for him.  With runners on second and third and nobody out, Travis Smetana stroked a single to right field to score Ferguson, and Mejia. 

West Liberty scored in the home half of the fifth inning on a run scoring single from TJ Busby, but Notre Dame answered in the top of the sixth. Troy Findlay came through with a single through the left side to score Danny Beaver, giving NDC a 5-1 advantage. 

The Hilltopper comeback was highlighted by a four-run sixth inning to tie the game at 5-5. They capitalized on a pair of Notre Dame errors, to score four times on four hits. Tim Mirandy started the inning with a double, and scored as Tim Hughes reached on Keifer Quick's error at first base. Josh Nagel followed with a RBI single to right, before John-Michael Brunner doubled down the right field line to score Huges, and Busby brought Nagel home on a groundout to tie the game. 

Findlay and Ferguson began the eighth inning on back-to-back base hits, setting up Smetana's fourth hit of the game, a single to center which scored Findlay, giving Notre Dame a 6-5 advantage. 

The Falcons added a big insurance run in the top of the ninth inning.  Blondeaux led the inning off with a walk, and made his way to second on Danny Beaver's sac bunt.  Shane DeFranco reached on Nagel's error at second base, pushing Blondeaux over to third, before TJ Lett walked to load the bases.  Findlay then came through yet again, scoring Blondeaux on a sac fly to cushion the NDC lead. 

As they had done once already, the Hilltoppers came from behind to tie the game.  Mirandy belted his second double of the game, this one scored Mike Johnson to bring WLU within a run, and with two outs, he scored the game tying run on a clutch single to center from Taylor Snare to tie the game. 

After a pair of quick outs were recorded in the top of the 10th inning, Smetana stroked his fifth knock of the game, a double down the line in left to keep the inning alive.  Quick was then intentionally walked, setting up a clutch, two-out single from Blondeaux that scored Smetana, which was the eventual game winning run. 

Eric Napoli (3-0) came away with the win after tossing two-thirds of an inning and surrendered a run on two hits, while Zach Gresch (2) tossed a perfect 10th inning in relief for the save. 

Notre Dame's offense was red hot, as they've now delivered 26 hits over the first two days of the tournament. On Friday, all nine batters in the starting lineup reached safely at least once, seven of those hit saftely at least once, and six players hit safely multiple times.  

Smetana led the charge for the Falcons, going 5-fo-6 in the contest with a run scored, and two RBI. Ferguson gave the Falcons a spark in the nine-hole, going 4-for-5 and scored a run as well. Quick, Blondeaux, Beaver and Findlay all added two hits each.  

The Falcons are in action again on Saturday, May 10, for the third day of play in the Mountain East Conference Tournament. They will play at 3 p.m., but their opponent is yet to be determined. Check out the MEC Tournament Central Page for more details.