STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The West Virginia Black Bears defeated the State College Spikes 4-2 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on Wednesday evening. After trailing through six innings, the Bears clawed their way back with four unanswered runs behind starting pitcher Christian Womble’s impressive eight-inning outing.
Defense defined the game through the top of the fourth as the Bears fought for control of the series. Right-handed pitcher Christian Womble worked quickly through the Spikes’ lineup, retiring the side in order in the first three innings. Womble struck out five to keep State College off the base paths heading into the fourth.
In a turn from Tuesday’s hitting frenzy, the West Virginia offense struggled to record one against Spikes’ starter Chris Shull. Kasten Furr reached base on a five-pitch walk, but he was stranded in the first. The Black Bears went three up, three down in the second, and only catcher Dayne Leonard notched a hit in the third. In the fourth frame, Jack O’Dowd made it to first on a single fielded by Caleb Hill. With one out, O’Dowd advanced to second on a wild pitch by Shull, but he was left on base as Trace Willhoite and Kendal Ewell were retired.
State College struck first in the bottom of the fourth with two runs off Womble. A lead-off double from Austin Roccaforte put the first Spikes runner on base. Kyle Russell’s sacrifice bunt moved Roccaforte 90 feet from home, and a single from Josh Spiegel drove him in for the first run. A base hit from Cameron Bufford put Spikes on the corners before Cooper Hext brought in Spiegel on a ground ball. The Black Bears collected the third out on a groundout to O’Dowd on first, but they entered the fifth trailing by two.
West Virginia finally got the offense going in the seventh inning with two runs to tie. Willhoite led off with a double, provoking a pitching change from manager Tim Battle Jr. With reliever Brayden Collett on the mound, Jeff Liquori picked up his first triple of the season on a ball roped to left field that scored Willhoite. Leonard followed with an RBI single that plated Liquori before State College ended the inning on a Connor McGuire groundout to third.
The Bears took the lead in the top of the ninth. O’Dowd made it to second on a fielding error in left by Sebastian Castro before advancing to third on a single from Willhoite. With a liner driven hard to right field, Liquori scored O’Dowd to give the Bears the lead. A controversial checked-swing call during Liquori’s at-bat caused a stir in the Spikes’ dugout, and a confrontation between Battle and home plate umpire Justin Sims ended in Battle’s ejection. Once the commotion died down, McGuire padded the Bears’ lead with an RBI single that scored Willhoite to go up by two.
Conner Mackay took the bump for Womble in the ninth frame. After pulling together two quick outs, Mackay allowed just the second walk of the game. But a ball popped up and fielded by O’Dowd ended the inning.
Christian Womble was the story of the game, putting together another strong performance for the Black Bears. Womble, a participant in 2024’s HBCU Swingman Classic, racked up 10 strikeouts through his 8.0 innings on the mound. The Jackson State alum sat the Spikes down in order in six of eight frames, allowing a pair of runs off five hits.
On a quiet day for the offense, Jeff Liquori made some noise with two hits in four appearances. Liquori scored a run and drove in two, adding to his league-leading total of 46 RBI. Catcher Dayne Leonard followed with two hits and an RBI, driving in the tying run in the seventh.
For State College, Chris Shull held West Virginia to four hits and one run. The starter struck out five through his 6.0 innings pitched. Josh Spiegel recorded one hit, one run and one RBI in the loss.
With the win, West Virginia is now 0.5 games ahead of State College in the standings with seven games remaining. The Black Bears return for the series finale against the Spikes on Thursday evening at Medlar Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
