AVON, Ohio – A pitcher's duel and an offensive shootout gave way to a four-game sweep on Sunday after the Notre Dame College baseball team defeated West Liberty 2-0 and 11-9. After winning both games on Saturday as well, the Falcons are now 8-8 in Mountain East Conference play and second in the MEC North Division standings.
 
Game one on Sunday was a quick 98-minute contest where the pitchers controlled the majority of the game. In total, the teams combined for just eight hits with Notre Dame leading the balance 5-3. It took five and a half innings to pass before either team got on the scoreboard.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, NDC put up two runs to win the game after Rick Phillips took advantage of an error by WLU and Corey Miley hit a sacrifice fly to score Ryan Kosmynka.
 
Chris Murphy pitched the complete-game shutout with the help of errorless fielding by the Falcons. Murphy allowed just three hits while striking out two batters. Kosmynka came up big in the field as well for NDC as he made the last out of the game with a diving catch in foul territory.
 
The second game of the day was a different story as both teams put up a multitude of runs with a combined 24 hits. As the daylight waned, clouds came in, and rain began to fall, both teams were able to score runs after fielding errors were committed.
 
West Liberty got off to a 4-0 lead after their first two innings, but Notre Dame rebounded in the bottom of the second to put up five runs of its own. When the lineup came around to the Falcons one-, two- and three-hitters, Lukas Thompson, Zach Santoro and Joseph Paskell all drove in runs. The flurry of runs was highlighted by a bases-loaded triple from Santoro that scored three runs to tie the game 4-4 before he was brought in by a sacrifice fly from Paskell.
 
The teams then traded leads after the Hilltoppers scored twice in the third inning and NDC combined for five runs in the third and fourth innings. Matt Richards, Corey Miley and Naja Garcia (two-RBIs) each batted in base runners during their at bats.
 
Down 10-6, West Liberty fought its way back in the fifth inning with three runs to make it a one-run difference, but the Falcons once again scored in the bottom of the fifth to give themselves a cushion.
 
Both Santoro and Garcia recorded three hits on the day and combined for five RBIs while Matt Richards and Corey Miley each tallied a pair of hits and an RBI each.
 
Ty Shoaff earned the win to improve to 3-4 after striking out three batters, while Kevin Guzik and Todd Marshall came in for relief. Marshall was on the mound for the final two innings, striking out four batters and allowing zero hits as he earned his fourth save of the season.
 
Notre Dame will play at Mercyhurst in a single game on Tuesday, April 9. The nine-inning competition is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.