GRANVILLE, W. Va. – The West Virginia Black Bears dropped the second game of the series to the State College Spikes on Saturday evening. Ben Harris hurled five innings for State College, allowing one run on four hits, striking six, as the West Virginia offense could not get the bats rolling, falling 9-2 to the Spikes.
Jordan Rogers gave West Virginia an early lead, blasting a pitch 417 feet over the left field wall for the Black Bears their first home run of the season.
But the celebration was short-lived as State College exploded for an eight-run fourth inning to take a lead it would not relinquish. In the frame, left fielder Derek Wylie reached on an error, then Brylan West connected on a base hit to put runners at first and second. Spikes’ shortstop Jake Mummau roped an RBI two-bagger to knot the game at one.
After back-to-back walks of Carson Luna and Manny Jackson, Treyson Hughes worked a bases-loaded walk to give the Spikes the lead. Then, Samuel Benjamin laced a two-run double into right-center field. The infielder from Houston Christian extended his hitting streak to a league-leading 11 games. Later in the inning, Wylie drove in two with a double to round out the scoring.
In the fifth, Hughes roped a two-out double. The next pitch, Benjamin connected on an RBI-single to make it a 9-1 game.
West Virginia finally put a run on the board in the bottom of the ninth when centerfielder Jarrett Ford singled to bring home Brody Black. However, the damage was done, and the Bears ended the evening with a loss.
A bright spot for the Bears, Hunter Hodges provided two scoreless innings of relief for West Virginia, allowing one hit and recording four of his six outs via strikeout. Brody Black, Dalton Wentz, Ryley Preece, and Joey Spence each tallied one hit for the Black Bears, with Black scoring the only run after the first inning.
For the Spikes, Benjamin finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored to pace the State College offense. Hughes trotted home twice and added an RBI, while Deniel Ortiz went 2-for-5 at the dish.
West Virginia looks to take the rubber match against the Spikes on Sunday for Father’s Day. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. with a logo ball giveaway to the first 300 fans at the gate and post-game catch on the field. For more information, please visit www.WestVirginiaBlackBears.com.
