BECKLEY, W.Va. - In an enthralling game, which had four lead changes over the two days of play, resulted in just a one-score difference as the Notre Dame College baseball team fell 9-8 to Charleston in the Mountain East Conference Tournament Championship. The game began on Saturday evening, but was delayed to Sunday due to fog. 

The Falcons left Epling Stadium with a 5-4 lead in the top of the sixth inning on Saturday night, but could not hold the Golden Eagles down in the remaining innings. 

On Satuday, both teams scored in the first inning after Zach 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.

When play resumed on Sunday, the momentum kept going for NDC as Corey Miley and Santoro each drove in a runner to make it 7-4 in favor of the Falcons. The new day also provided a spark for Chaleston, however, and the Golden Eagles were able to score five runs to go up 9-7 in their first round of at bats. Notre Dame was able to score again in the ninth inning on a Rick Phillips solo home run, but that was were the scoring ended. 

Kenny Pierson closed the game for the Falcons on the mound, pitching the final 2.1 innings while allowing just two hits and no runs. Pierson was named to the MEC All-Tournament team for his efforts over the course of the weekend, which included both a complete-game win and a save on Saturday. Overall, Pierson pitched in four games for 11.2 innings and allowed just two runs. 

Joining Pierson on the All-Tournament team are Zach Santoro and Lukas Thompson, who combined for 17 hits over the tournament. Thompson, who recorded nine hits in 20 at bats (.450 batting average) also tallied five runs, five doubles and four RBIs. Santoro scored six runs while totaling three doubles, four RBIs and one home run. 

Notre Dame finished the season with a 28-27 record, which is the first winning season since 2016.