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Hilltoppers' MEC Tourney Run Comes to an End

Baseball | 5/14/2016 10:12:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BECKLEY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University baseball team saw its thrilling Mountain East Conference Tournament run come to an end here Saturday night as West Virginia State held on for a 5-3 win in the losers' bracket final under the lights at rainswept Linda K. Epling Stadium.
Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (29-25), who knocked Concord out of the tournament on Friday, had kept their postseason drive alive earlier Saturday afternoon by eliminating Notre Dame with a 6-1 victory.
West Virginia State (32-14), the MEC South Division champion, will take on North Division champion Shepherd (36-13) Sunday at 1 p.m. in the championship round of the double-elimination event. 
The Yellow Jackets, who dropped an 11-5 decision to the Rams in Saturday's first game, will have to beat Shepherd twice in order to win the tournament and claim the MEC's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
An RBI double by Jordon Meyer highlighted a two-run rally for the Black and Gold as they jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead against State.
That margin proved short-lived as the Yellow Jackets loaded the bases with a single and two hit-by-pitches before a bases-loaded walk, a sacrifice fly and an RBI single put State on top, 3-2, heading to the bottom of the second. State added a pair of unearned runs in the top of the third for a 5-2 lead, forcing the Hilltoppers to hit the comeback trail in earnest.
D.J. Busby's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth closed the gap to 5-3 but that was the final run West Liberty came up with on what turned out to be an extremely frustrating evening.
The Hilltoppers had the tying run in scoring position in the seventh and eighth frames and brought the tying run to the plate twice in the bottom of the ninth but were never able to come up with the equalizer. When the final out was recorded, WLU had left 11 runners on base with seven of them stranded in scoring position.
Thanks to a strong effort by the West Liberty bullpen, West Virginia State managed just four singles all night. The Hilltoppers finished with nine hits, led by Mike Adams with a double and two singles.
In the first game, Sean Pare hurled a 4-hit complete-game gem and the WLU bats delivered a dozen hits as the Black and Gold sent Notre Dame (28-24) packing.
Two singles and a pair of WLU errors in the top of the second inning helped stake the Falcons to an early 1-0 lead but that was all they could muster off Pare.
The Hilltopper starter blanked Notre Dame on just two hits over the final seven frames while his teammates went to work at the plate.
Adams tied the game with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the third and Ethan Estes put West Liberty ahead to stay with a two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth. The Hilltoppers tacked on three more insurance tallies in the seventh inning to put the game out of reach.
Eight of the nine West Liberty starters had at least one hit. Estes and Adams each had a single to go along with their extra-base hit while Meyer chipped in with a double and single and Busby added a pair of hits. Nolan Marcus and Justice Jackson each singled and drove in a run.

BASEBALL
MEC Tournament
(at Beckley, W.Va.)
West Liberty 6, Notre Dame 1
Notre Dame 010 000 000 - 1    4  1
West Liberty 001 020 30x - 6  12  2
NDC: Fuller lp (5SO, 2W), Seekins (7) (0SO, 0W), Beasore (1SO, 0W) and Rosales.  Beasore D
WLU: Pare wp (1SO, 4W) and Carranza. Estes T, S, 2rbi; Adams D, S, rbi; Meyer D, S; Busby 2S; Marcus S, rbi; Jackson S, rbi

W.Va. State 5, West Liberty 3
W.Va. State 032 000 000 - 5  4  1
West Liberty 200 100 000 - 3  9  1
WVS: Gainer wp (3SO, 1W), Johnson (8) (0SO, 0W) and Cline. Porter S, rbi
WLU: Y.Hughes lp (1SO, 2W), Fuscardo (5) (2SO, 1W), Bond (8) (2SO, 0W), Naumann (9) (1SO, 0W) and Carranza. Adams D, 2S; Meyer D, rbi; Busby S, rbi
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Players Mentioned

Ethan Estes

#2 Ethan Estes

IF
5' 10"
Sophomore
Justice Jackson

#12 Justice Jackson

OF
6' 1"
Sophomore
Nolan Marcus

#10 Nolan Marcus

P/IF
5' 8"
Sophomore
Sean Pare

#18 Sean Pare

P
5' 10"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Ethan Estes

#2 Ethan Estes

5' 10"
Sophomore
IF
Justice Jackson

#12 Justice Jackson

6' 1"
Sophomore
OF
Nolan Marcus

#10 Nolan Marcus

5' 8"
Sophomore
P/IF
Sean Pare

#18 Sean Pare

5' 10"
Junior
P