West Liberty, W.VA. — The Notre Dame College baseball program returns home with a single win in the final game of the four-game series at West Liberty University this weekend. 

The bats came alive in the final game of the series, with Notre Dame exploding for eight runs in the top of the first inning. Runs were scored on singles hit by Mike Zeuli, Kyle Espinelli, Patrick Aitken, and Nick Petrolla. Aaron Miller hit a sacrifice fly, which added another run, and an error made by the Hilltopper defense allowed Nick Petrolla on base and scored a run as well.

West Liberty came back with three runs in the bottom of the first, and six in the bottom of the second to take a one-run advantage against the Falcons, 9-8.

The Falcons weren't done hitting, though. With one out, Ben Ross doubled down the left field line, and a walk by Hayden Parker put runners on first and second. They both advanced a base on a wild pitch, and the bases became loaded when Mike Zeuli drew a walk to load the bases for Kyle Espinelli. Espinelli singled up the middle, scoring both Ross and Parker and leaving a runner in scoring position. Parker Hray singled, scoring both Espinelli and Zeuli, and the Falcons went up by two runs with a score of 11-9.

West Lib tied the game by scoring a run in the bottom of the third and the fourth, but with two outs in the top half of the fifth inning, the Falcons rallied on a single through the right side by Aaron Miller to maintain the winning advantage for the duration of the game. 

Kevin Guzik earned his first win of the year, coming to pitch in relief for Jesse Clark in the bottom of the third. Guzik went 2.2 innings and gave up one run on four hits and a single walk, while earning two strikeouts.

Five pitchers were on the mound for Notre Dame in the win with Ashton Spurgeon getting the start, but being replaced by Louis Supan and Clark pitching in relief before Guzik. Bryan Benedict came in for the save, and got the remaining two innings of work in the win.

On the weekend, Ben Ross went 8-14 at the plate and scored five runs on a single walk and three doubles. Nick Petrolla went 4-8, driving in three runs including a sacrifice fly. Austin Mora went 3-6 and scored a single run.

After this weekend, the Falcons sit at an overall record of 10-14, with a 7-9 record in the MEC. Baseball is scheduled for a four-game series this weekend with Fairmont State, with doubleheaders being played on Saturday and Sunday (Apr. 17 and 18). First pitches are scheduled for 1 and 3 p.m. both days.