WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University baseball team exploded for 29 hits and 23 runs Sunday afternoon in rolling to a pair of victories against Pitt-Johnstown in West Virginia Conference action at Kovalick Field.

The Hilltoppers (7-20, 4-6) slugged their way to a 15-5 triumph in the first game before rallying to an 8-6 win in the finale.


Coach Bo McConnaughy's hosts got the day off to a promising start when they shattered a 3-3 tie with 8 runs in the fourth inning of the first game – a makeup contest from the previous afternoon.


West Liberty added four more tallies in the fifth inning en route to the 7-inning win against the Mountain Cats (10-13, 6-5).

Zane Madden put the Hilltoppers ahead to stay with a grand slam that cleared the left field fence and ignited the 8-run uprising in the fourth. Madden added a pair of singles and finished the game with 5 RBIs.

Trent Chapman had two triples and two RBIs while Ryan Zelinski added three singles and Rudy Nagy drove in two runs with a pair of hits. Dillon Mangino and Mike Johnson each had a double and single to drive in a run while Derek Daugherty had two singles and an RBI and Carson Koontz weighed in with an RBI base knock.

Jeff Welsh fanned eight UPJ batters and issued only one walk in hurling the complete-game win.

The second game – a scheduled 9-inning contest – found West Liberty heading into the bottom of the seventh on the short end of a 6-2 tally.

The Hilltoppers scored 5 runs in the bottom of the seventh to grab a 7-6 lead and added an insurance tally in the eight to back a solid relief effort by Matt Shyosky.

Shyosky entered the game in the sixth and earned the win by firing four innings of shutout relief.

Two-run doubles by Zelinski and Nagy fueled the decisive West Liberty rally in the seventh inning. Nagy had three RBIs with two singles and the double while Mangino had two singles and an RBI. Henry and Johnson had doubles while Chapman collected a pair of RBIs.

The Hilltoppers remain at home to host perennial South Division power West Virginia State on Wednesday in a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

BASEBALL

West Liberty 15, Pitt-Johnstown 5

Pitt-Johnstown 110 102 0 -   5 12 2

West Liberty 111 840 x - 15 17 3

UPJ: Younker lp (1SO, 0W), Tunink (3) (0SO, 0W), Sabados (4) (0SO, 2W), Schnably (5) (0SO, 1W), Violi (6) (0SO, 0W) and Morrow. Morrow 4S

WL: Welsh wp (8SO, 1W) and D.Daugherty. Madden HR, 2S, 5rbi; Zelinski 3S; Chapman 2T, 2rbi; Nagy 2S, 2rbi; Mangino D, S, rbi; Johnson D, S, rbi; Daugherty 2S, rbi; Koontz S, rbi

West Liberty 8, Pitt-Johnstown 6

Pitt-Johnstown 102 030 000 - 6   9 3

West Liberty 010 010 51x - 8 12 0

UPJ: Shaulis lp (5SO, 0W), Moore (2SO, 1W) and Vignero, Morrow (8). Barbera 3S, 2rbi