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Rams Rally Past West Liberty in Beckley

Baseball | 5/13/2017 1:31:00 PM

Box Score BECKLEY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University baseball team saw its season came to an end here Saturday as Shepherd rallied for a 9-6 win to eliminate the Black and Gold from the Mountain East Conference Tournament at Linda K. Epling Stadium.
Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (28-22) held a late 6-2 lead only to see the Rams (30-21) explode for five runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to pull out the win.
It was a frustrating conclusion for a West Liberty team that had got the bats going early, jumping out to a 5-0 lead through the first three innings.
Hilltopper southpaw Parker Dyson held Shepherd to one hit and an unearned run through the first five innings.
The Rams' Jonathan Sarty hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth but West Liberty got that run back in the bottom of the frame, restoring the four-run margin, and Dyson returned to the hill for the seventh.
Shepherd pushed across an unearned run with one out in the seventh, cutting the lead to 6-3, and WLU nearly got out of the inning when they just missed turning an inning-ending double play.
That's when the wheels came off for the Black and Gold.
A double and a two-run single cut the lead to 6-5 before Brenton Doyle curled a two-run home run around the right field foul pole for a 7-6 Ram advantage.
Daniel Heleine dug the hole even deeper for West Liberty when he tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the eighth with another two-run blast.
The Hilltoppers put runners in scoring position in the eighth and ninth innings but were unable to cash them in.
Every West Liberty player had at least one hit as the Black and Gold ripped out 16 hits against a quartet of Shepherd pitchers.
Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, WLU left 13 runners on base in the nine-inning game. West Liberty finished the day just 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position and had just one hit in its last 16 chances with runners on second and/or third over the final six innings.
Nolan Marcus led the way with a double and two singles while Alex Rojas added a double, single and RBI. Bailey McGrath came off the bench with a double and a single while Justice Jackson and Chad Matthus each had a pair of base knocks. Mike Adams and Coby Eckstein had RBI singles.

BASEBALL
MEC Tournament
Shepherd 9, West Liberty 6
Shepherd   000 101 520 - 9    9  1
West Liberty 122 001 000 - 6  16  2
SU: Stead (0SO, 1W), Potts wp (3) (4SO, 0W), Whitlock (7) (1SO, 0W), Hubbell (9) (0SO, 0W) and Burack, Haymaker (9). Sarty HR, D, 2rbi; Heleine HR, S, 2rbi; Doyle HR, S, 2rbi; Carney S, 2rbi; Kirk S, rbi; Piccolo D; 
WLU: Dyson lp (5SO, 1W), Y.Hughes (7) (3SO, 1W) and Rojas. Marcus D, 2S; Rojas D, S, rbi; McGrath D, S; Jackson 2S, rbi; Matthus 2S; Adams S, rbi; Eckstein S, rbi
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Players Mentioned

Parker Dyson

#24 Parker Dyson

P
6' 5"
Sophomore
Coby Eckstein

#7 Coby Eckstein

IF
6' 2"
Sophomore
Justice Jackson

#12 Justice Jackson

OF
6' 1"
Junior
Nolan Marcus

#10 Nolan Marcus

P/IF
5' 8"
Junior
Bailey McGrath

#8 Bailey McGrath

IF/C
5' 8"
Sophomore
Chad Matthus

#3 Chad Matthus

IF
5' 9"
Freshman
Alex Rojas

#4 Alex Rojas

C
5' 11"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Parker Dyson

#24 Parker Dyson

6' 5"
Sophomore
P
Coby Eckstein

#7 Coby Eckstein

6' 2"
Sophomore
IF
Justice Jackson

#12 Justice Jackson

6' 1"
Junior
OF
Nolan Marcus

#10 Nolan Marcus

5' 8"
Junior
P/IF
Bailey McGrath

#8 Bailey McGrath

5' 8"
Sophomore
IF/C
Chad Matthus

#3 Chad Matthus

5' 9"
Freshman
IF
Alex Rojas

#4 Alex Rojas

5' 11"
Senior
C