UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Deniel Ortiz’s one-out single to right-center field in the ninth scored Cade Climie to complete a State College Spikes comeback as they notched their fifth consecutive victory with a 9-8 win over the West Virginia Black Bears on Sunday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
Samuel Benjamin’s solo home run, his second of the season, left the yard over the right-center field wall in the seventh inning to bump the Spikes’ (5-1) lead over the Black Bears (2-4) to 7-3. However, West Virginia plated five runs in the eighth to jump out in front, 8-7.
In the ninth, Benjamin took a one-out walk, then scored on Climie’s double to left-center field to tie the game and set up Ortiz’s heroics.
Benjamin joined Trenton’s Landon Frei as the only players to homer twice in the opening week of the MLB Draft League’s season, and upped his RBI total to a league-leading 11.
Treyson Hughes went 2-for-5 with a double and added his ninth RBI of the year to move into second in the league in that category. Hughes hit .500 in the season’s opening week. Ortiz improved his average to a league-leading .550, going 2-for-5 with two RBI’s.
State College also went 7-for-7 in stolen bases on the game, with Hughes and Benjamin swiping two bases each. As a team, the Spikes are now 29-of-32 on the basepaths, collecting over twice as many steals as any other MLB Draft League team.
The Spikes have now scored 58 runs, or 9.7 per game, and collected 72 hits, or 12 per game, in the season’s first week, both of which lead the league.
Landon O’Donnell (1-0) picked up the win on the mound with two innings of work in which he allowed one unearned run on three hits while striking out two batters. Dariel Osoria (0-1) pitched the last 1 1/3 innings and took the loss for the Black Bears.
After an off day on the schedule Monday, the Spikes will hit the road for six games, visiting the Mahoning Valley Scrappers for three games Tuesday through Thursday, then heading to take on the West Virginia Black Bears Friday through Sunday. Game times are 7:05 p.m. for each of the three matchups at Eastwood Field in Niles, Ohio against the Scrappers, 7:00 p.m. for the Friday and Saturday games in West Virginia, and 1:00 p.m. for the Sunday matinee to close out the road trip.
The Spikes come back home on Tuesday, June 18 for a two-game mini-series at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park against the Williamsport Crosscutters. Fans can enjoy the return of Walking Taco Tuesday presented by Bigfoot Country Legends on the 18th, with half-price Walking Tacos available at the relocated Salsa stand, now available next to the Kids Zone on the third-base side of the concourse.
Wednesday the 19th is the debut of the new Glizzy and Wine Wednesday presented by Seven Mountains Wine Cellars and WOWY Radio, with half-price Country Store Brand hot dogs available all game long throughout the ballpark and half-price servings of wine available from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
For tickets to those two games, as well as every remaining home game on the Spikes’ 2024 schedule at the new-look Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, fans can call 814-272-1711 or by visiting the Spikes Ticket Office from 10 a.m. until the end of the game on Sunday.
Fans can also buy and download single-game tickets, and view the 2024 promotional schedule, by visiting StateCollegeSpikes.com.
Catch all of the action of the Spikes’ game on Tuesday via the Spikes Radio Network presented by Penn State Sports Medicine, Official Healthcare Provider of Penn State Athletics with Joe Putnam on the call. The broadcast starts with Spikes Live! presented by Mount Nittany Health on the air from Eastwood Field starting at approximately 6:50 p.m.
The game can be viewed worldwide on the MLB Draft League streaming platform powered by Pixellot at MLB.watch.pixellot.tv and the Watch section of the MLB app by scrolling the Watch Now tab, along with the “Listen Live” link on StateCollegeSpikes.com and the TuneIn Radio app.
