Box Score BECKLEY, W.Va. – The Notre Dame Falcons won a 4-1 decision on Thursday night during the first day of play in the Mountain East Conference tournament, defeating West Liberty. (
Tournament Central)
Notre Dame entered the tournament as the third seed, and their win over the fourth seeded Hilltoppers in the double elimination tournament, gives the Falcons a chance to play under the lights again, as they'll now play fifth seeded Concord on Friday night at 7 p.m.
The Falcons never trailed at any point in the contest, as they were able to ride the left arm of
Zach Gresch (7-2), who tossed eight strong innings and allowed just a run on five hits while fanning five batters in a winning effort.
They struck for two on a little two out thunder in the home half of the third to take a 2-0 lead, and never looked back.
Jake Kirsh began the inning with a base hit, before a pair of two-out walks were issued to
Travis Smetana and
TJ Lett, which set up
Keifer Quick's first of two hits in the contest, a two-run single to score Smetana and Kirsh, giving NDC a 2-0 lead.
The Hilltoppers cut into the lead by scoring their lone run in the top of the seventh. A Pierro stroked a two-out RBI single through the right side to score Jon Michael Brunner to bring the deficit down to one (2-1).
Notre Dame answered with a run in the bottom of the seventh, before adding an insurance run in the eighth inning as well. Both of NDC's big hits came with two outs.
In the seventh,
Austin Barnhart kept the inning alive with a two out single through the right side of the infield, and he scored moments later on
Danny Beaver's two-bagger to the gap in right-center field.
Blake Miller smashed a double two out double to left field in the eighth inning, and he came home to score the final run of the contest moments later on a
Jalen Fields double to the gap in right-center.
Phil Ramos (5) then came on to slam the door in the top of the ninth inning to put the game away and secure the victory.
The Falcons are back in action for the second day of play in the MEC Tournament on Friday, May 8, and they'll play under the lights again as they take on fifth seeded Concord at 7 p.m. Live stats and Live audio for the game can be found at the MEC Tournament Central page.
