TRENTON, N.J. – The West Virginia Black Bears came up short against the Trenton Thunder, 7-5, in game two of the three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. Despite holding the Thunder scoreless over the final five innings, the Bears were unable to claw back from an early deficit.
The Black Bears struck first in the opening inning. Lead-off hitter Elijah Cook singled before stealing second base. After Cayden Gaskin struck out, Zack Thompson drove Cook home with an RBI double.
Trenton answered immediately in the bottom of the first. Runs from Juju Stevens, Michael Whooley, Julian Swift and Sam Gates gave the Thunder a 4-1 advantage.
West Virginia cut the deficit to 4-2 in the second after Jackson Trout launched a solo home run, but Trenton responded in the bottom half of the inning with runs from Whooley and Stevens, their second of the game, extending the lead to 6-2.
The Thunder added one more in the third when Stevens hit an RBI double that scored Drew Wyers.
The Bears answered with two runs in the fourth. A leadoff single by Ben Barrett, followed by a line-drive single by Kevin Jones, put runners on the corners. Trout collected his second RBI of the game to score Barrett. Sam Miller walked to load the bases, and Noah Jouras grounded into a force out to bring home Jones, making it a 7-4 game.
After scoreless fifth and sixth innings, West Virginia added another run in the seventh. Thompson doubled before advancing to third base on a balk. Alec DeMartino then hit an RBI double to score Thompson.
Neither team scored over the final two innings as the Thunder clinched the 7-5 victory and the series.
Jackson Trout led the Black Bears offense with three hits in his four at-bats, driving in two runs, and scoring one on his solo home run in the second. Right-handed pitcher Aydan Decker-Petty held the Thunder at bay through his four innings of work after relieving starter Jonah Walker in the third. Decker-Petty allowed just one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Hunter Holzemer continued to keep West Virginia in the game with two hitless innings and one strikeout.
The Black Bears return to Trenton Thunder Ballpark for the final game of the three-game series Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
