Baseball | 2/22/2018 8:57:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2     CARY, N.C. – The West Liberty University baseball team got its season off to an impressive start here Wednesday, sweeping a doubleheader from St. Augustine's (N.C.) at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Thomas Brooks Park.
    Coach Eric Burkle's debuting Hilltoppers coasted to a 6-2 win in the opener and roared from behind in the finale to pull out a 9-5 decision against the Falcons (6-5).
    Clutch hitting was the order of the day for West Liberty throughout the twinbill with Coby Eckstein getting things started in the opener.
    St. Augustine's held a 1-0 lead through the first three innings but Eckstein tied it when he led off the top of the fourth with a solo home run.
    Eckstein was back at it again in the top of the fifth, ripping a two-run single up the middle as part of a three-run inning that put WLU ahead to stay, 4-1.
    An RBI single by Bailey McGrath in the sixth and a run-scoring double by Tyler Ramsay in the top of the seventh put the game out of reach.
    Eckstein paced a 10-hit attack with a homer, two singles and three RBIs. Justice Jackson also had a multi-hit game, singling twice and chasing home a run.
    Momentum swung back and forth in the second game until St. Augustine's pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 5-3 lead.
    West Liberty took advantage of control problems by a pair of Falcon hurlers to bat around in the top of the seventh. A 2-run double off the bat of Hunter Westlake highlighted a 6-run explosion as the Black and Gold finished off the sweep.
    Eckstein came up big again with two singles and an RBI while Ethan Estes drove in two runs with a double and a single. Colton Coss had a double and an RBI and Jackson added a two-bagger. Luke Nees picked up the win in relief.
    The Hilltoppers remain in North Carolina this weekend to participate in the MEC/PSAC Challenge.
    West Liberty will play a doubleheader against Slippery Rock on Saturday, beginning at 2:30 p.m., before closing out the challenge with a 9-inning single game against Seton Hill Sunday at 2 p.m.
    All games will be played on the artificial turf at Ting Park in Holly Springs, N.C.
  West Liberty                               000 131 1 - 6  10  1
St. Augustine's                           010 000 1 - 2    9  1
     WLU: Retzer wp (5SO, 2W), Nees (5) (0SO, 0W), Shook (6) (1SO, 0W) and Davis. Eckstein HR, 2S, 3rbi; Jackson 2S, rbi; Ramsay D, rbi; McGrath S, rbi
     StA: Pichardo lp (2SO, 2W), Rabb (5) (1SO, 1W), Davis (7) (1SO, 1W) and Davis. Davis D, S; Pinero 2S, rbi; Roets 2S; Ford S, rbi; Sierra D
  West Liberty                               010 020 6 - 9  10  2
St. Augustine's                           020 012 0 - 5    8  2
     WLU: Marcus (4SO, 3W), Bloomquist (6) (0SO, 1W), Nees wp (6) (3SO, 1W) and Cooley, Harper (7). Estes D, S, 2rbi; Eckstein 2S, rbi; Westlake D, 2rbi; McGrath S, 2rbi; Coss D, rbi; Jackson D
     StA: France (2SO, 1W), Yanez (6) (2SO, 1W), Pinero lp (7) (0SO, 2W) and Davis. Davis D, S; Roets 2S, rbi; Brown S, rbi; Garcia S, rbi