GRANVILLE, W.Va. - On another beautiful night for baseball at Monongalia County Ballpark, the West Virginia Black Bears set off in hopes to take their third series of the season against the Frederick Keys, but ended the second game in a sudden death loss after finishing nine innings tied 3-3.
With the loss, the Keys snapped the Bears six-game winning streak, and West Virginia falls to 8-11 on the season.
The Keys got the scoring started, jumping ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning after a broken bat got in starting pitcher Cédric de Grandpré’s way, allowing a Keys runner to score from third unobstructed.
Later in the top of the second, the Keys looked as though they might tack on another run as they threatened with a runner in scoring position. However, De Grandpré caught the Keys’ CF Logan Sanders in a rundown to force him out at third.
West Virginia responded in the home half of the inning when 1B Ryan Hernandez scored on a triple from C Hunter May to knot the game, 1-1. Not long after, May scored on a fielder’s choice ground ball from DH Ryan McCoy to give the Bears a one run lead.
The Black Bears kept things going in the third after SS Sam Antonacci stole second and third base, and crossed home plate off a hard-hit single from Hernandez into right field. Hernandez (.412 BA) finished his productive evening going two-for-two at the plate with one run and his RBI single.
Reliever Zach Bravo took the mound in the top of the fourth. After a wild pitch by Bravo brought home one run, the Keys tied things up, 3-3, on an RBI single from DH Haicheng Guo. But the Black Bears defense came up with a tight double-play to end the inning before the Keys could inflict any more damage.
The West Virginia defense kept things at a stalemate the rest of the game. SS Sam Antonacci made a quick backhand stop in shallow left field that caught a runner at first in the top of the sixth, while Marek Chlup made an incredible throw to the plate from right field to get the Keys lead runner out in the top of the seventh.
Things remained stagnant through the ninth as both teams threatened multiple times with runners in scoring position, but defense ultimately prevailed to keep things tied and send the Black Bears to sudden death for the second time this season.
West Virginia elected to take the field in the extra inning with right-handed pitcher Zach Ottinger on the mound. Ottinger, who held the Keys to one hit in the top of the ninth, kept all but one Keys player off the bases with some help from the Bears’ defense, as they recorded two outs in quick succession with a double-play. However, the Keys were able to score their runner from third on a single up the gap to win the game.
Despite the loss, starting pitcher Cédric de Grandpré shined in his third start for the Black Bears. De Grandpré (2.08 ERA) finished his impressive three-inning outing allowing five hits and only one earned run with five strikeouts. Over the course of the season, the twenty-year-old Québec native has recorded 22 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched – the third highest strikeout total in the MLB Draft League.
The Black Bears return to Monongalia County Ballpark for the rubber match tomorrow evening against the Keys on Star Wars Night at The Mon. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
