WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University baseball team finished off a win in a suspended game against Fairmont State here Sunday afternoon at Kovalick Field.
    Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (9-33, 8-20) held on for an 11-7 win against the Falcons (25-19, 16-12) in a completion of a game stopped by darkness on Saturday. Fairmont State rebounded to sweep Sunday's twinbill by scores of 12-3 and 17-12, with the last game halted by darkness after six innings.
    The long day's journey into night began in bright sunshine with the completion of the suspended game. West Liberty had scored 10 runs in the fourth inning on Saturday and led 10-3 in the bottom of the fifth when play resumed Sunday.
    The Hilltoppers tacked on an unearned run in the fifth to make it 11-3 and held off a late Fairmont surge to complete the 11-7 win.
    Coby Eckstein knocked in two runs with a single and a double while Bailey McGrath added a double, single and RBI. Jason Schutte singled twice and drove in a run while Dalton Davis and Kaden Blomquist each had a single and an RBI.
    In the first game of the scheduled doubleheader, West Liberty trailed just 2-1 heading into the fourth inning when FSU batted around to score eight runs and put the game out of reach.
    McGrath was the only WLU player with a multi-hit game, stroking out a single and a double. Schutte had an RBI double and Brian Campbell delivered a pinch-hit RBI single.
    The final game of the day was a see-saw affair but the Falcons took advantage of eight West Liberty errors to come out on top.
    The Hilltoppers didn't go down without a fight, however.
    Fairmont appeared to have taken control when the visitors snapped a 1-1 tie with a 7-run uprising in the top of the third but West Liberty struck right back with eight runs of its own in the bottom of the frame to take a 9-8 lead.
    Momentum swung right back to the Falcons when they plated eight more runs in the top of the fourth and the hosts couldn't claw their way back before darkness fell.
    Ty Helmke led WLU with two singles, a triple and three RBIs while Eckstein also had a big game with three singles and an RBI. Tyler Ramsay drove in three runs with a two-run double and a sacrifice fly while Davis, Blomquist, Schutte and Colton Coss each checked in with a single and an RBI.
    The Hilltoppers return to action on Tuesday when they host Walsh (Ohio) in a 2 p.m. non-conference game at Kovalick Field.