Baseball | 3/24/2020 8:00:00 AM

    NOTE: With the athletic world on hold for the next few weeks, the WLU Sports Information Department will take the opportunity to wake up some echoes from what has been a spectacularly successful decade of Hilltopper sports. We hope you enjoy these looks back and are able to stay safe as we travel together through these challenging times. #TopperNation #UnitedAsOne #GoWLU
 
    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – West Liberty's Parker Dyson fired a no-hitter here Sunday to lead the Black and Gold to a split of a crucial Mountain East Conference doubleheader with Fairmont State at Kovalick Field.
    The teams remained tied for second place in the MEC North Division as the Falcons (26-20, 18-10) had pulled out a 5-4 extra-inning win in the first game before Dyson's gem gave Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (24-18, 18-10) a 3-0 victory in the finale.
    A 6-5, 220-pound sophomore who played his high school ball at nearby Bridgeport (Ohio) High School, Dyson was in complete command throughout.
    He retired the first 12 batters he faced and finished the game with six strikeouts and three walks. Fairmont hit only two balls out of the infield during the entire game.
    Dyson got all the offensive support he needed when Justice Jackson sprinted home on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the third and Bub Haddox put the game on ice with a 2-run single in the bottom of the sixth.
    West Liberty battled hard in the opener but simply ran out of comebacks.
    Fairmont took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh but Ethan Estes delivered a clutch 2-out RBI single to knot the score and send the game into extra innings.
    The Falcons used three singles and a sacrifice fly to send two runs across the plate in the top of the eighth but WLU once again got something going in the bottom of the frame.
    With two out and Mike Adams on first after drawing a leadoff walk, Tyler Ramsay ripped a single down the left field line to put runners on first and third.
    Haddox followed with an RBI single through the right side, cutting the lead to 5-4 and putting the tying run 90 feet away at third base but Fairmont reliever Mark McKee got the next batter out to seal the win.
    Estes drove in two runs for the Black and Gold with a double and a single while Ramsay added a pair of base knocks.
    The Hilltoppers close out their non-conference schedule on Tuesday with a 3 p.m. single game at Davis & Elkins before coming home to host Wheeling Jesuit in back-to-back 1 p.m. doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.
  Fairmont State               100 020 02 - 5  11  2
West Liberty                   001 010 11 - 4    7  2
     FSU: Paull (6SO, 0W), Morris wp (7) (0SO, 2W), McKee (8) (1SO, 0W) and Hill. Myers D, 2S, rbi; Whitmore 2S, 2rbi; Sova 2S; Krantz S, rbi
     WLU: Y.Hughes (4SO, 2W), Marcus lp (7) (1SO, 0W) and Rojas, Harper (8). Estes D, S, 2rbi; Ramsay 2S; V.Haddox S, rbi
  Fairmont State               000 000 000 - 0  0  0
West Liberty                   001 002 00x - 3  6  0
     FSU: Holt lp (4SO, 3W) and Hessler.
     WLU: Dyson wp (7SO, 3W) and Rojas. Haddox S, 2rbi; Rojas D