CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Notre Dame College baseball team suffered four losses over the past two days as it opened up conference play.
 
The Falcons two games against West Virginia State were both battles as they each resulted in a one-run loss.
 
An error in the first game on Sunday allowed NDC to go up 2-0 in the second inning, but the Yellow Jackets scored two runs of their own in both the third and fourth innings to go up 4-2. Ryan Kozmynka homered in the sixth inning to make it a one-run game, but WVSU held on to win 4-3.
 
Starting pitcher Josh Armbruster threw his second complete game of the season, striking out two batters in six innings.
 
In game two against West Virginia State, it was Notre Dame who mounted a comeback. The Yellow Jackets came out strong, going up 7-0 after a six-run third inning. NDC scored the next eight runs of the game, including four in the fifth inning and three in the sixth. Nick Ely hit a solo shot in the seventh inning to put the Falcons up 8-7 heading into the bottom of the final inning.
 
WVSU then scored two runs in the seventh inning to win 9-8.
 
Drake May and Zach Santoro each had two RBIs in the second game while Ely recorded two hits and three runs.
 
Kenny Pierson and Cam Fuller got NDC through the middle innings as they pitched for a combined 3.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
 
On Monday, the Falcons went up first at Charleston after Ely walked with the bases loaded and Ricky Phillips drove in another run to go up 2-0. The Golden Eagles slowly climbed their way into the lead as they scored in the first four innings and again in the sixth to win 6-2.
 
Pierson once again played well in the relief role as he threw for 1.1 innings, allowing no runs and striking out one batter. With 10.1 innings pitched in four game appearances, Pierson now leads the Falcons with an ERA of 2.61.
 
Notre Dame would again get an early lead in game two against UC, going up 4-0 after the first two innings each saw two runs scored. A Drake May double in the first inning put NDC up 2-0 and the Falcons doubled their output in the second with an RBI single from Adam Purdy and an score on an error.
 
That would end the scoring for the Falcons, however, and from there, the Golden Eagles would take over. Charleston would score at least one run in each of the next four innings, tying the game at 4-4 in the fifth before opening things up with four runs in the sixth inning to win 8-4.
 
Notre Dame will play its first home game of the season on Saturday, March 24, against UVa-Wise. The doubleheader will be played at Sprenger Stadium in Avon, Ohio at 1 p.m.