GRANVILLE, WV – The Frederick Keys secured the series opening victory on the road Friday night against the West Virginia Black Bears, winning by a score of 7-1 at Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
The Keys scored six straight runs to take a 7-1 lead late into the ballgame, and eventually held on for the road victory in Morgantown, gaining a game back in the standings as a result. The Keys set 6.5 games back of West Virginia with 11 games remaining in the regular season.
After both sides traded zeros in the first inning in the series opener, Trey Lipsey (Ohio State) gave the Keys a 1-0 lead in the top of the second courtesy of an RBI single, and they would hold on to the lead going into the third courtesy of a scoreless bottom of the second from Paul Panduro (Fort Hays State).
The Black Bears tied it at one in the bottom of the third on an RBI single, but Panduro retired the side with his second strikeout of the night, keeping it a 1-1 game heading into the fourth Friday night.
Following a scoreless fourth inning, which included a third strikeout by Panduro to end the inning, both sides went off the board in the fifth, after Panduro got a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame to allow the score to stay at one apiece approaching the sixth in Morgantown.
An RBI triple from Parks Bouck (Lipscomb) and an RBI sacrifice fly from Bronson Rivera (Hawai’i Pacific) handed Frederick a 3-1 lead entering the seventh, with Panduro getting a scoreless bottom of the sixth in the starting role.
In the seventh, Cam Hassert (Loyola Marymount) scored on a wild pitch and Bouck delivered a two-RBI single, giving the Keys a 6-1 lead going into the eighth at Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
After Hassert got himself an RBI double in the top of the eighth to put the Keys lead up to six at 7-1, Davis Smith (Georgia Southern) struck out the side in 1-2-3 fashion in the bottom of the eighth, taking the contest into the ninth with Frederick up by six.
Smith went on to throw a scoreless bottom of the ninth, as the Keys picked up the series opening victory Friday night in Morgantown by a score of 7-1.
The Keys and Black Bears meet for the second time in as many days Saturday night on the road, with first pitch from Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark set for 7 p.m.
