Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 INSTITUTE, W.Va. -- The Notre Dame Falcons scored an extra inning victory on Friday afternoon, as they split a double header with West Virginia State, taking game one, 2-1, and fell in the finale, 5-0.
The Falcons (18-11, 18-8 MEC) have now won six of their last eight games, while WV State (21-12, 21-9 MEC) has won four of their last five. The extra inning victory gives NDC a 3-0 record in extra inning games against Mountain East Conference opponents.
Game One
NDC's
Zach Gresch and WVSU's Tyler Hall engaged in an incredible pitcher's duel in the opening contest. Both teams were kept off the board, until the Falcons struck first in the top of the sixth inning.
Keifer Quick began the inning with a single, and
Blake Miller laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Quick into scoring position. Two batter later, senior
Shane DeFranco came through with a huge two-out double to score Quick and give NDC a 1-0 lead.
The Yellow Jackets came right back with a two-out RBI hit to tie the game in the home half of the sixth inning. With a runner on third and two outs, Josh Kiser stroked a single to score Cody Smith, who doubled earlier in the inning.
In the ninth, the Falcons took the lead without recording any hits.
Jalen Fields began the inning with a walk, and made his way to third after
Austin Barnhart reached on an error by the pitcher. Moments later, a passed ball allowed Fields to score the eventual game winning run.
Phil Ramos (4-0) scored the victory for the Falcons after tossing two scoreless innings in relief, and allowed just a pair of hits along the way. Gresch didn't factor into the decision, but pitched a great game, allowing just a run on seven hits with three strikeouts. Quick made an instant impact, making his first start after coming off an injury, going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks.
Game Two
The Notre Dame offense was silenced by WV State's Eric Roberts in the second game of the day, as he limited the Falcons to just a pair of hits in a 5-0 victory.
The Falcons had their best chance to score in the top of the first inning.
Travis Smetana made his way to third on an opposite field single from Quick, putting runners at the corners with one down, when Roberts induced an inning ending double play.
Roberts retired the next 10 batters, the Falcons had just two baserunners the rest of the way, and were not able to get anyone into scoring position. The Yellow Jackets scored single runs in the second and fifth inning, while plating a trio of runs in the fourth.
Three NDC pitchers saw action in the contest.
Jeff Stover (2-3) started, and suffered the loss after allowing five runs, only two earned on nine hits over 4.1 innings of work.
Matt Seekins and
Dante LaRiccia combined to toss 1.2 innings of scoreless relief the rest of the way.
The Falcons and Yellow Jackets will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday, April 18, with another MEC double header in Institute, W.Va. The first pitch in game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
