Frederick, MD– The Frederick Keys (13-13) were defeated by the West Virginia Black Bears (19-10) on Tuesday night by a final score of 9-3 at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.

The Black Bears didn’t waste any time in the 1st, scoring three runs off starting right-hander Brett Taucher (Quincy University) to take an early 3-0 lead.

A run each in the 2nd and 3rd for the visitors extended the lead to 5-1 after the 4th.

Frederick pitching walked five hitters and two batters with the bases loaded in the 5th to further extend West Virginia’s lead to 7-1.

The largest lead for West Virginia would be eight, a 9-1 lead after the top of the 8th.

Keys pitchers walked a second-half season high 10 hitters in the loss.

On offense, Jake Plastiak (Kentucky) drove in a game-high two RBI and Ben Fitzgerald (UC Irvine) launched his fifth home run of the summer, a 412-foot blast, in the 9th.

The Keys will return to Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium tomorrow, August 24, against the West Virginia Black Bears for the second game of a three-game series. First pitch on Wednesday is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

For more information on the Frederick Keys, please contact Gareth Kwok at gkwok@FrederickKeys.com.