GRANVILLE, W.Va. – The West Virginia Black Bears lost to the State College Spikes, 11-4, in the first game of the three-game Camo Classic Series at Kendrick Family Ballpark. A stalled offense and mistakes in the field proved costly for the Bears in the seven-run rout on Sunday evening.
State College opened the game with four runs to take an early lead. Starting pitcher Hunter Holzemer retired the first two batters before walking CJ Richmond. A fielding error allowed catcher Camden Ross to reach while advancing Richmond to second. Jacoby Long’s line-drive single to right field loaded the bases with two outs. Then, on a 3-1 count, Justin Journette sent his eighth home run of the season over the left-field wall for a grand slam.
West Virginia narrowed the deficit to one in the second inning. Leading off with the walk of Zack Thompson, Owen Petrich recorded an RBI double, scoring Thompson from first. The next at-bat, Jackson Trout singled to put Bears on the corners. A wild pitch from Spikes’ starter Pablo Torres brought home Petrich to cut the State College lead to two. Back-to-back singles from Tyvon Moore and Elijah Cook scored Trout, forcing a mound visit. Torres loaded the bases with the walk of Cayden Gaskin but was relieved by Charlie Smith with one out on the board. Smith recorded the final two outs to get out of the jam and preserve their 4-3 lead.
Holzemer and the defense held the Spikes scoreless through the fourth, retiring the side in the third frame. However, State College widened the gap with Ross’ three-run homer in the fifth.
An inning later, the Spikes scored three to take a seven-run lead. Consecutive singles from Jett Buck and Jackson Rains put two on base, and a wild pitch advanced both into scoring position. Buck scored on a fielder’s choice before Black Bears manager Tim Garland sent in reliever Aydan Decker-Petty for Holzemer. Ryan Rivera’s sacrifice bunt coupled with a throwing error brought home Rains and kept two Spikes within striking distance. Richmond’s RBI single scored Blake Bradford, putting the Bears behind 10-3.
A second Spikes’ pitching change brought in Juan Reyes for Smith with Ian Collier at the plate in the bottom of the inning. After striking Collier with a fastball and walking Petrich on a full count, Reyes gave up a run on a double from Trout. West Virginia looked for a rally with runners on second and third but ended the inning with three straight whiffs. Heading into the seventh, the Bears trailed by six.
State College added an insurance run before the stretch on a ground-rule double that bounced over the left field wall to take an 11-4 lead. Though West Virginia got Petrich on base in the eighth, the offense failed to plate another run and ended the game on a flyout.
Jackson Trout’s three-hit night led the Black Bears’ offense as he scored one run and drove in another. Owen Petrich went 2-for-3 with one run, one walk, and one RBI. Starting pitcher Hunter Holzemer (4-2) recorded his second loss, allowing five earned runs on eight hits with a 3.84 ERA. The Bears bullpen closed rank in the final frames, capping the Spikes offense at one run on five hits. Aydan Decker-Petty gave up the solo run but struck out one in his 2.0 innings of work. Relievers Ryan Ure and Reece Clap held the Spikes scoreless in their single-inning performances in the eighth and ninth, respectively, with Ure striking out two.
The Black Bears return to face the Spikes for the second game of the Camo Classic Series on Monday evening at The Ken. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.
