GRANVILLE, W. Va. - The West Virginia Black Bears defeated the Trenton Thunder 4-2 in a rain-shortened series finale Thursday afternoon at Kendrick Family Ballpark. The game was called in the eighth inning due to inclement weather.
Trenton struck first in the opening inning after Brett Patten drew a walk and advanced into scoring position. Patten later came around to score on a throwing error to set the Thunder up with an early 1-0 advantage.
The Black Bears responded in the bottom of the second when Grayson Fitzwater launched a solo home run into right field, evening the score at 1-1. West Virginia looked for more momentum, but Trenton escaped further damage with an inning-ending double play.
After the Black Bears tied the game in the second, the teams battled to a standstill. Luke Mathews singled and later stole second in the third and Sam Miller added a base hit in the fourth, but West Virginia was unable to score from either opportunity.
Trenton regained the lead in the fifth inning when infielder Chase Swain singled, stole second and later scored on a Jordan Thamas double to left field, putting the Thunder back in front 2-1.
West Virginia took control in the sixth inning with a three-run rally. Marcus Bradshaw drew a walk to spark the offense before Miller delivered an RBI single to score Bradshaw to cut the deficit to 2-2. Moments later, Fitzwater stole home to give the Bears their first lead of the game, and Mathews added an RBI single to center field to extend the advantage to 4-2.
The rally was aided by a pair of Trenton errors as Jose Fernandez reached base to keep the inning alive. On the mound, the Black Bears stayed strong as the defense retired the Thunder in order in the top half of the inning, carrying a two-run lead into the seventh.
Dylan Mannino retired the side in order with a pair of strikeouts to preserve West Virginia's 4-2 lead in the eighth. In the bottom half of the inning, Fernandez was hit by a pitch and Matthews recorded a single to put runners on base as the Black Bears looked to add insurance before the game was called due to lightning.
With the, West Virginia moves to 4-5 on the season. The Black Bears hit the road to take on the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in a three-game set over the weekend before returning home on June 16 for a six-game home stand.
