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West Liberty Baseball Sweeps WJU on Senior Day

Baseball | 5/7/2017 9:45:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Liberty University baseball team celebrated Senior Day on Sunday by sweeping a crucial Mountain East Conference doubleheader from Wheeling Jesuit at the I-470 Complex.
Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (27-18, 20-10) blanked the Cardinals (6-34, 5-23) by a 4-0 count in the opener before slugging their way to a 15-10 victory in the finale. The twinbill sweep clinched a second-place finish in the MEC North for the Black and Gold and a No. 2 seed in the MEC Tournament.
In the opener, four WLU hurlers combined on a 3-hit shutout to get West Liberty off to a flying start in the twinbill. Parker Dyson got the win with two innings of shutout relief, striking out three of the six batters he faced while retiring the side in order during the third and fourth frames. 
The sophomore southpaw has now strung together nine consecutive no-hit innings after firing a 7-inning no-hitter against Fairmont State last weekend.
The Hilltoppers broke up the scoreless tie with two runs in the top of the fourth and tacked on a pair of insurance tallies in the top of the sixth to put the game on ice. Coby Eckstein, Ethan Estes and Bub Haddox each stroked out a pair of singles while Justice Jackson added a single and an RBI.
Coach Burkle honored his 11-man senior class between games of the doubleheader. 
The talented group, consisting of Mike Adams, Connor Clark, Tory Fuscardo, Tim Hughes, Yale Hughes, Logan Maloney, Nick Naumann, Sean Pare, Alex Rojas, Trey Smith and Greg Stagani, is the first senior class to string together four consecutive 20-win seasons at West Liberty since the Hilltoppers had a run of six straight from 1985 to 1990.
The Hilltoppers had to come from behind in the second game to complete the sweep as Jesuit took advantage of some shaky West Liberty fielding to take an 8-6 lead after the first three innings.
The Black and Gold got one run back in the top of the fourth before taking command with a 5-run uprising in the top of the fifth.
Tim Hughes got things started by leading off the fram with a game-tying solo homer but the Hilltoppers were far from finished. Two Jesuit errors led to four unearned runs with Yale Hughes' RBI double giving West Liberty a 12-8 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.
The Cardinals scratched out a run in the bottom of the fifth but the Hilltoppers put the game out of reach with three more tallies in the top of the seventh.
Nolan Marcus had a four-hit game with a double and three singles. Yale Hughes chased home two run with a double and a single while Tim Hughes also picked up two RBIs with his homer and a single. Eckstein drove in four runs with a home run and a single while Estes added two RBIs with a home run and a double. Mike Adams also singled and drove in a run.
West Liberty and Wheeling Jesuit close out the regular season on Monday with a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader at the I-470 Complex. A win in either game would give the Hilltoppers a second-place finish in the MEC North and a No. 2 seed in the MEC Tournament.

BASEBALL
West Liberty 4, Wheeling Jesuit 0
West Liberty 000 202 0 - 4  7  0
Wheeling Jesuit 000 000 0 - 0  3  1
WLU: Retzer (4SO, 0W), Dyson wp (3) (3SO, 0W), Shook (5) (1SO, 0W) and Rojas. Eckstein 2S; Estes 2S; V.Haddox 2S; Jackson S, rbi
WJU: Standiford lp (5SO, 5W), Luciano (7) (1SO, 0W) and Davis. Brake D

West Liberty 15, Wheeling Jesuit 10
West Liberty 402 150 3 - 15  15  4
Wheeling Jesuit 233 010 1 - 10  10  4
WLU: Clark (1SO, 3W), Maloney wp (2) (2SO, 4W), Naumann (5) (1SO, 0W), Fuscardo (7) (2SO, 0W) and Smith. Marcus D, 3S; Y.Hughes D, S, 2rbi; T.Hughes HR, S, 2rbi; Eckstein HR, S, 4rbi; Estes HR, D, 2rbi; Adams S, rbi
WJU: Rees (3SO, 1W), Evans lp (5) (0SO, 1W), Menear (6) (0SO, 1W) and Sancomb. May 3S, rbi; Sunnafrank 2S, 4rbi; Minder 2S, rbi; Davis S, rbi
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Players Mentioned

Connor Clark

#19 Connor Clark

P
6' 3"
Senior
Parker Dyson

#24 Parker Dyson

P
6' 5"
Sophomore
Coby Eckstein

#7 Coby Eckstein

IF
6' 2"
Sophomore
Ethan Estes

#2 Ethan Estes

IF
5' 10"
Junior
Tory Fuscardo

#9 Tory Fuscardo

P
5' 9"
Senior
Tim Hughes

#1 Tim Hughes

IF
6' 0"
Senior
Yale Hughes

#16 Yale Hughes

P
6' 4"
Senior
Justice Jackson

#12 Justice Jackson

OF
6' 1"
Junior
Logan Maloney

#37 Logan Maloney

P
6' 1"
Junior
Nolan Marcus

#10 Nolan Marcus

P/IF
5' 8"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Connor Clark

#19 Connor Clark

6' 3"
Senior
P
Parker Dyson

#24 Parker Dyson

6' 5"
Sophomore
P
Coby Eckstein

#7 Coby Eckstein

6' 2"
Sophomore
IF
Ethan Estes

#2 Ethan Estes

5' 10"
Junior
IF
Tory Fuscardo

#9 Tory Fuscardo

5' 9"
Senior
P
Tim Hughes

#1 Tim Hughes

6' 0"
Senior
IF
Yale Hughes

#16 Yale Hughes

6' 4"
Senior
P
Justice Jackson

#12 Justice Jackson

6' 1"
Junior
OF
Logan Maloney

#37 Logan Maloney

6' 1"
Junior
P
Nolan Marcus

#10 Nolan Marcus

5' 8"
Junior
P/IF