GRANVILLE, W.Va. – The West Virginia Black Bears took the series from the Aberdeen IronBirds with a 5-3 win in the rain at Kendrick Family Ballpark. Stifled at the plate in Saturday’s loss, the Black Bears recovered in Sunday’s game with 11 hits against the first-place IronBirds.
Hunter Holzemer started the game strong as he took the mound for the Bears, retiring the side in order in the first frame. Holzemer gave up a walk and a single in the second, but he got West Virginia out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout to end the inning. Carrying the momentum into the third, the lefty allowed two on base but added a strikeout and held the IronBirds scoreless.
West Virginia hopped on the board in the bottom of the third with a lead-off home run from Cayden Gaskin. The following inning, Elijah Cook scored on Kevin Jones’ RBI single to put the Bears ahead 2-0.
Holzemer continued to deal as the defense held the IronBirds scoreless through six. Though Isaiah Parido’s heads-up base running put him 90 feet from home in the sixth, two groundouts fielded by Gaskin ended the IronBirds’ threat.
Taking advantage of Aberdeen’s struggles, West Virginia added three runs in the bottom of the inning to go ahead by five. A lead-off double from Jackson Trout followed by Noah Jouras’ single to left field put runners on the corners. Trout came home on a passed ball as Gaskin advanced to first on a four-ball walk. Ben Barrett’s triple to center field scored Jouras and Gaskin for a 5-0 lead.
Aberdeen broke through with two runs in the seventh, but Randy Flores was picked off and caught stealing third to end the rally. The IronBirds scored another the following inning on an RBI single from Max Galvin before Black Bears Manager Tim Garland sent in right-handed pitcher Dawson Hall. Working quickly, Hall struck out three to preserve the lead.
After a fruitless bottom of the eighth, Hall returned to the bump. Though he issued two walks to put the tying run on first, the Bears’ most reliable closer ended the game with a strikeout to record his fourth save of the season.
Bouncing back from Saturday’s near-hitless game, the Black Bears tallied 11 with Cayden Gaskin, Ben Barrett, and Zack Thompson each hitting two. Gaskin finished 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI off his homer in the third, while Barrett added two RBI to his season total.
Hunter Holzemer and the West Virginia defense allowed 10 hits but held Aberdeen to three runs with solid in-field play. Holzemer (4-1) picked up the win with seven hits, two runs, and three strikeouts through 6.2 innings pitched. Dawson Hall’s fourth save featured four strikeouts as he retired the side in the eighth.
The Black Bears hit the road for a two-game series against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers before returning to Kendrick Family Ballpark for the penultimate home stand of the season, beginning Thursday, August 20.
