BECKLEY, W.Va. - The Notre Dame College baseball team kept things rolling at the Mountain East Conference on Saturday with two wins to get to a championship series against Charleston. The Falcons defeated UVa-Wise 4-2 in their first game of the day before beating Shepherd 13-10. The first game of the championship was started, but postponed until Sunday, May 12, at 10:30 a.m. 

NDC started its first of three-straight games at 1:05 p.m. against UVa-Wise and came back from trailing 1-0 early. After the Cavaliers scored one in the second inning, the game was scoreless until a double from Lukas Thompson scored three runs in the top of the fifth. Thompson was credited with one RBI after batting in Adam Purdy; Lukas and Naja Garcia each scored on errors on the same play. 

UVa-Wise responded in the bottom of the fifth with a run to make it 3-2 in favor of the Falcons, but NDC scored one in the eighth to give itself a cushion. Joseph Paskell doubled down the left-field line to bring in Rick Phillips for the contest's final run. 

Kenny Pierson pitched a complete nine-inning game to earn the win for Notre Dame. He struck out four batters in his time on the mound while allowing just two earned runs. 

The Falcons faced a familiar foe in their second game of the day, which began at 4:20 p.m. in Shepherd, a team NDC had won three of four in its regular season series. Notre Dame made it four of five on the year and eliminated the Rams from the tournament after a high-scoring game. 

Things got off to a bang early for both teams as they combined for 13 runs in back-to-back half innings. The Falcons started the scoring spree in the bottom of the second inning with seven runs, all seven of which were scored on different plays. 

Nick Farrell launched the septet with a solo home run on the first pitch he saw. Purdy followed by scoring on a wild pitch before Garcia scored on a double by Thompson. Thompson and Corey Miley scored on singles by Zach Santoro and Paskell, respectively, prior to Santoro and Paskell scoring on separate wild pitches. 

Not to be completely outdone, Shepherd roared back into contention in the top of the third with six runs of its own. Brenton Doyle, the MEC Player of the Year, was the impetus the Rams needed as he scored the teams first two runners with a single to right field. 

SU then tied things up 7-7 in the top of the fourth, but were matched by Purdy hitting in Phillips on a single through the left side to give the lead back to Notre Dame 8-7. 

The Falcons increased their lead to 11-7 with three runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Farrell batting in two runners. Shepherd once again came back into the thick of things with three runs in the eighth inning to make it a one-run game. But NDC closed the game out in the bottom of the eight with a pair of runs scored by a double from Thompson. 

Head coach Len Barker used a committe of six pitchers throughout the game to defeat Shepherd and advance to the championship. Hayden Parker earned the win to improve to 2-0 in his freshman campaign. The Warren, Ohio native threw for three innings and allowed just one run. Starting pitchers Ty Shoaff and Pierson ended the game for NDC with Shoaff earning two outs in the ninth and Pierson earning a save by striking out the last batter. Pierson's save comliments his complete-game victory from the game prior. 

With a 3-1 record in the tournament, Notre Dame advanced to play Charleston in the first game of what could be a two-game series. Charleston is 3-0 in the tournament, and is the only team to defeat the Falcons. It took the Golden Eagles 10 innings to gain the 5-4 victory on Friday. 

The teams were able to get started on the first game, and get through five innings before the delay. The Falcons currently lead 5-4 with one out in the top of the sixth inning. 

Both teams scored in the first inning after Santoro scored on a wild pitch and the Golden Eagles scored three in the bottom of the inning. A solo home run gave UC a 4-1 lead in the second inning, but the Falcons came back to tie it up in the fifth after Matt Richards hit a two-RBI triple and scored himself on an error. In the sixth inning, on the last play before the game was paused, Garcia doubled on with a full count to score Purdy and take the lead.

Garcia's double was the 10th of the day. Eight runs were scored for NDC after a double was hit. The five doubles against UVa-Wise ties for third-most in a single game for NDC. 
 
Notre Dame will begin play against Charleston tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. with a 5-4 lead. NDC will need to win both games to win the MEC Tournament Championship, while Charleston needs just one victory. Game two, if necessary, is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.