GRANVILLE, W.Va. - The West Virginia Black Bears swept the Mahoning Valley Scrappers with a 2-0 win at Kendrick Family Ballpark on Thursday evening. Defense was the story of the night as the Black Bears allowed just five hits to shut out the Scrappers for the second straight game.

Ryan Sleeper took the mound for the Bears to begin the game in his sixth start. A walk of T.J. McKenzie was quickly erased as catcher J.T. Marr caught him stealing second. Sleeper settled in with the help of the defense, securing the inning with two flyouts.

Aiming to repeat last night’s success, the Black Bears came out swinging in the bottom of the first. Lead-off hitter T.J. Williams got things started with a single before the walk of Marr put two Bears on base. With Williams in scoring position, Jack O’Dowd sent a ground ball bouncing into center field to bring him home. The next at-bat, a sacrifice fly from Trace Willhoite scored Marr for the second run. Jeff Liquori grounded out to end the inning with West Virginia ahead 2-0.

Once Sleeper and the Black Bears’ defense found their foothold in the second, there was no turning back. The pitcher from Appalachian State picked up four Ks through the sixth inning, striking out the side in the second. A single in the third was negated by another heads-up play by Marr as he caught Matthew Rivera in his attempt to take second base. The defense played a tight fourth frame, retiring the side in order, and held the Scrappers to two hits in Sleeper’s final two innings of work.

Noah Manning relieved Sleeper in the top of the seventh after a base hit from Chang-Yong Lee. Manning wasted no time, punching out the next three batters to end the Mahoning Valley advance. The Scrappers went three up, three down in the top of the eighth, heading into the final frame still trailing by two.

Mahoning Valley threatened with a two-out rally in the top of the ninth. Jack Maruskin entered to close for the Bears, proceeding to pick up two quick outs on a groundout to shortstop Kasten Furr and a force out at second. With one runner on first, Drew Holderbach singled to left field to put the tying run on base. Maruskin walked Jake Tsukada to load the bases but secured the final out on the strikeout of Kota Suzuki.

After tallying 19 total runs in the first two games of the series, Thursday’s contest yielded four hits and four walks. The Black Bears stranded seven runners through eight innings with the only runs coming in the first frame. Jack O’Dowd recorded two of West Virginia’s four hits in his four plate appearances while also driving in the first run of the game.

The Black Bears defense held the line in the low-scoring game, retiring the side in order in two of nine innings while allowing only five hits. Ryan Sleeper got his second win of the season with a strong six-innings. The lefty from Lakeville, Minnesota, clocked five strikeouts with four hits and three walks. Noah Manning kept the Scrappers hitless in his 2.0 innings pitched, striking out the side in the seventh. Closer Jack Maruskin was credited with the save after his efficient performance in the ninth.

West Virginia returns to Kendrick Family Ballpark on Friday evening for a fresh three-game series against the Frederick Keys. Friday night’s game features the final post-game fireworks show of the season and seven innings of giveaways for Fan Appreciation Night. First pitch for Friday’s game is set for 7:00 p.m.