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West Liberty Baseball Earns MEC Tourney Bid

Baseball | 5/8/2016 8:20:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Liberty University baseball team punched its ticket to this week's Mountain East Conference Tournament on Sunday by sweeping a doubleheader from Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit on the Cardinals' home diamond.
Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (27-23, 15-17) rallied for a 4-2 win in the opener before hammering out a 13-3 blowout win in the finale to knock Wheeling Jesuit (16-28, 15-17) out of postseason contention.
The twinbill sweep in the regular season finale pulled West Liberty into a tie with WJU for the MEC North Division's third and final tournament berth. The head-to-head tiebreaker went the Hilltoppers' way after they took three of four games from the Cardinals this weekend.
In the opener, Connor Coup came off the bench to snap a 2-2 tie with a two-out two-run pinch-hit single in the top of the seventh to keep WLU's season alive.
Sean Pare worked six strong innings for the win on the mound, scattering four singles while fanning six and issuing just two walks. Mark Smyth – coming off a complete-game win on Saturday – worked a scoreless seventh inning to earn the save.
D.J. Busby had a pair of singles while Jordon Meyer singled and drove in the other two runs for the Hilltoppers.
That set up a winner-take-all matchup in the second game and the Hilltoppers wasted no time taking care of business.
A two-run double by Mike Adams and an RBI single off the bat of Ethan Estes put West Liberty up, 3-0, in the top of the first and starting pitcher Yale Hughes promptly slammed the door.
Hughes held Jesuit to one run on one hit over the first five innings while his teammates continued to pad the margin. A three-run uprising in the top of the sixth expanded the lead to 7-1 and the issue was all but decided.
The Cardinals kept their faint hopes alive with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth but that was all Hughes would yield.
The Hilltoppers put the game on ice with a six-run explosion in the top of the ninth. Meyer applied the coup de grace with a two-run circuit blast over the left field wall.
Hughes went the distance on the hill for the win, holding the Cardinals to just six singles while striking out six and giving up three walks.
West Liberty pounded out 16 hits in the clincher with five Hilltoppers enjoying multi-hit games and seven WLU hitters collecting at least one RBI.
Justice Jackson led the way with four singles and an RBI while Meyer had a single to go along with his two-run blast and Bub Haddox checked in with two doubles and an RBI. Nolan Marcus added a pair of base knocks and Busby had a two-run single and Coup contributed a single and an RBI.
This marks the third consecutive season that Burkle's Hilltoppers have earned an MEC Tournament bid. Action gets under way on Thursday at Epling Stadium in Beckley, W.Va. Pairings and game times will be announced later this week.

BASEBALL
West Liberty 4, Wheeling Jesuit 2
West Liberty 100 010 2 - 4  7  0
Wheeling Jesuit 020 000 0 - 2  5  1
WLU: Pare wp (6SO, 2W), Smyth (7) (0SO, 1W) and Carranza. Busby 2S; Meyer S, 2rbi; Coup S, 2rbi
WJU: Standiford (3SO, 4W), Fritts lp (3SO, 1W) and Biega, Gaydos (6). Brake S, rbi

West Liberty 13, Wheeling Jesuit 3
West Liberty 300 013 006 - 13  16  2
Wheeling Jesuit 100 002 000 -   3    6  4
WLU: Y.Hughes wp (6SO, 3W) and Carranza. Jackson 4S, rbi; Meyer HR, S, 2rbi; Haddox 2D, rbi; Adams D, S, 2rbi; Marcus 2S; Busby S, 2rbi; Coup S, rbi; Estes S, rbi
WJU: L.Hudson lp (1SO, 3W), C.Hudson (5) (1SO, 2W) and Gaydos, Sancomb (9). Sanfelippo 2S; Schickler 2S; Biega S, rbi; Sunnafrank S, rbi
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Players Mentioned

Connor Coup

#36 Connor Coup

IF
6' 1"
Sophomore
Ethan Estes

#2 Ethan Estes

IF
5' 10"
Sophomore
Yale Hughes

#16 Yale Hughes

P
6' 4"
Junior
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
Mark Smyth

#14 Mark Smyth

P
6' 2"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Connor Coup

#36 Connor Coup

6' 1"
Sophomore
IF
Ethan Estes

#2 Ethan Estes

5' 10"
Sophomore
IF
Yale Hughes

#16 Yale Hughes

6' 4"
Junior
P
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
Mark Smyth

#14 Mark Smyth

6' 2"
Senior
P