STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — For the second night, the West Virginia Black Bears’ pitching performance paved the way to a victory over the State College Spikes as they took game two and the series, 5-1, at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Starting pitcher Zach Bravo led the Black Bears on the hill while LF Blaze Brothers spearheaded a balanced offensive attack.
The Black Bears struck first in the third inning when CF Sam Crail and Blaze Brothers reached base on walks. As 1B Ryan Hernandez reached on a fielding error by Spikes’ third baseman Kevin Karstetter, the error allowed both Crail and Brothers to score. West Virginia ended the top half of the inning after a groundout into a double play but not before taking a 2-0 lead.
The Bears continued to capitalize on Spikes’ errors in the fourth inning. Daunte Stuart bounced a ball back to Spikes pitcher Mason Ronan. The throwing error to first allowed Stuart plenty of time to reach first and advance to second, while CF Caeden Trenkle took third and DH Kyle Hess crossed home plate. Trenkle scored on a passed ball a few pitches later to bring the score to 4-0.
Zach Bravo’s impressive night concluded after the fourth inning. The right hander and former Mountaineer tossed four scoreless innings only allowing one hit, walking three and striking out five.
A home run smashed deep into right field by Spikes’ 1B Alex Toral off reliever Tucker Shalley cut the West Virginia lead to three-runs in the bottom of the fifth. But the Black Bears got the run back in the top of the seventh inning as Brothers put a sacrifice fly to deep center field that brought home SS Savier Pinales.
Clean innings from Chase Smith, Branden Noriega and Tommy Green finished off State College and secured the 5-1 Black Bears win. Combined, the Black Bears bullpen allowed four hits and one run through five innings. Smith, who picked up his first win of the season, allowed just one hit in his two innings of work with two strikeouts.
Despite State College topping West Virginia in hits, three errors and inconsistent pitching from the Spikes gave the Bears scoring opportunities on which they capitalized. The Black Bears finished the game with nine walked batters and five runs on only three hits.
With the win, West Virginia improves to 12-13 while State College falls to 10-15. The Black Bears and Spikes conclude the series tomorrow evening at Medlar Field as West Virginia goes for the sweep. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
