Baseball | 4/22/2018 6:14:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Regionally-ranked Shepherd crashed the party on Sunday at West Liberty University's Baseball Alumni Weekend by sweeping the Black and Gold for the second straight day in Mountain East Conference doubleheader action at Kovalick Field.
    Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (14-19, 12-12) came out on the short end of 9-5 and 13-2 scores as the Rams (26-12, 20-4) all but locked up a regular season MEC North Division title.
    The disappointing results on the field took none of the luster away from the off-field festivities as a huge crowd turned out to see several of WLU Hall of Fame Coach Bo McConnaughy's West Virginia Conference championship teams from the 1980s and 1990s honored between games.
    On the field, Shepherd scored in each of the first four innings to build a commanding 6-0 lead in the opener and WLU couldn't battle all the way back.
    Ethan Estes had a four-hit game with a double and three singles to lead the Black and Gold while Dalton Davis smacked out a double and a triple. Chad Harper added a two-run double while Bub Haddox and Coby Eckstein each singled and drove in a run.
    The second game got out of hand in a hurry as the Rams batted around to score eight runs in the top of the first and tacked on three more in the second to build an 11-0 lead.
    Jarrett Delbrugge lashed a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to break up Shepherd's shutout bid. Hunter Westlake added a double and a single for the hosts and Jason Schutte had a pair of base knocks in a losing cause.
    West Liberty looks to bounce back on Monday when Seton Hill (Pa.) comes to Kovalick Field for a 2 p.m. non-conference twinbill.
  Shepherd                                     131 103 0 - 9  11  1
West Liberty                               000 210 2 - 5  11  2
     SU: Smith wp (6SO, 1W), Benner (6) (3SO, 0W) and Nottingham. Doyle 3S, 3rbi; McCourt 3S, rbi; Nottingham 2S; Hamel D, rbi; Hoffman S, rbi; Atkinson T
     WLU: Grimm lp (4SO, 5W), Blomquist (4) (0SO, 1W), Bernard (7) (1SO, 0W) and Harper. Estes D, 2S; Davis D, T; Harper D, 2rbi; Haddox S, rbi; Eckstein S, rbi; Westlake D
  Shepherd                                     830 002 0 - 13  13  1
West Liberty                               000 000 2 -   2    6  3
     SU: Miller wp (7SO, 0W), Martin (7) (1SO, 0W) and Hamel, Burack (7). Doyle T, 2S, 2rbi; Nottingham 2S, 2rbi; Hamel 2S; Hoffman S, rbi; Sloper S, rbi; Torres S, rbi
     WLU: Viakley lp (0SO, 1W), Stocklask (1) (3SO, 3W), Stewart (7) (0SO, 0W) and Harper, Cooley (6). Westlake D, S; Schutte 2S; Ja.Delbrugge S, 2rbi