GRANVILLE, W.Va. – The West Virginia Black Bears fell to the Aberdeen IronBirds 7-6 at Kendrick Family Ballpark on Wednesday evening.
Collin McKinney took the mound in his third start for the Bears. Working quickly, McKinney struck out the side in the first and fanned two more in the second.
The Bears struck first in the opening frame as Sam Miller scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Walker Barron. Dylan Schlaegel added a run with a solo homer over the visiting bullpen in the second, and shortstop Owen Henne came home on a Barron groundout in the third. Heading into the fourth, West Virginia held a 3-0 lead.
Aberdeen quickly erased the Bears’ progress with four runs in the top of the inning. Dylan Mannino entered in relief of McKinney after 3.0 innings pitched. A lead-off single followed by two walks loaded the bases, and a hit-by-pitch brought in the first IronBirds run. A pitching change brought in Kansas State reliever Miles Smith with no outs and the bases juiced. JT Taylor scored two on a single before the Black Bears recorded the first out. The next at-bat, Brian Heckelman lined the ball toward the outfield wall, scoring one, but a well-timed throw from right fielder Isaac Wachsmann to catcher Beau Sylvester mowed down Taylor and prevented another run.
West Virginia battled back to tie the game in the sixth. Schlaegel notched his second RBI with a double that scored Wachsmann and Jose Fernandez. After stealing third, Schlaegel scored on a force out at second to bring the score to 6-6.
With two outs on the board, the IronBirds rallied in the eighth, breaking the tie on a single that plated Ryan Kroepel. Despite attempts late in the game, the Black Bears were unable to overcome the deficit.
West Virginia returns for the series finale with Aberdeen on Thursday evening before beginning their weekend series against Team Mexico for the MLB Draft League’s International Series. First pitch for Thursday night’s contest against the IronBirds is set for 6:30 p.m.
