NILES, OH - For the second consecutive night, the West Virginia Black Bears dropped a game against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers after holding the lead through at least five innings. After a competitive start to the game, the Black Bears bullpen allowed 11 runs, combined, in the later innings, and West Virginia lost the matchup by a final score of 12-5.
Off to a hot start, the Bears drew first blood in the top of the third when a single from CF Sam Crail drove in LF Jess Davis from third base. West Virginia added another run with an RBI ground out that scored SS Duncan Pastore to bring the score to 2-0.
Cédric de Grandpré, the RHP from Québec, kept the Scrappers off the bags and the board as he retired 7-of-9 batters faced through four innings. The Arizona State University commit finished his Black Bears debut with only two hits and one run allowed (2.25 ERA).
West Virginia added to their early lead in the fifth inning. Back-to-back doubles from C Cameron Gurney and Davis put two men in scoring position before Pastore drove in the third run of the game with an RBI single. Tahir Meulens scored Davis for a fielder’s choice RBI before he was caught stealing to end the Black Bears scoring run. West Virginia entered the bottom of the inning up, 4-1.
The sixth inning, however, proved to be West Virginia’s downfall, as the bullpen lost control of Mahoning Valley’s offense. The entire Scrappers order made an appearance at the plate in the sixth as the Black Bears struggled on the mound. Relievers Andre Wojtarowicz and Sayer Diederich allowed three runs, each, with Diederich (0-1) giving up four hits before ending the inning down 7-4.
West Virginia showed signs of life in the seventh with a triple from Sam Crail that drove in Pastore to bring the score to 7-5. But that life was immediately extinguished in the bottom of the inning, as the Scrappers scored another three insurance runs. The offensive onslaught continued through the eighth inning with another two runs driven in off Black Bears reliever Trey Braithwaite. After failing to score again in the top of the ninth, the Bears finished the game down 12-5.
For the second night, the Black Bears matched the Scrappers in hits (10) but were crippled by the number of walks allowed. Combined, the Black Bears bullpen walked eight Scrappers batters – seven-of-eight walks occurring in the sixth and seventh innings.
Despite the loss, OF Sam Crail continued his hitting streak into the third game, going 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBI and a triple. Through three games, Crail has a .500 BA with seven hits and two RBI. Additionally, INF Duncan Pastore shined in the third game, as he went 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI.
The Black Bears search for their first win of the season going into the last game of the four-game set against the Scrappers. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. West Virginia returns home for the Home Opener at Monongalia County Ballpark on June 7 (7:05 p.m. game time).
