AVON, Ohio – The West Liberty University baseball team came out on the short end of the scoreboard here Sunday in a Mountain East Conference doubleheader against Notre Dame (Ohio).
    The host Falcons (15-17, 11-5) outslugged the Hilltoppers (6-26, 6-10) by a 10-6 count in the opener and finished off the sweep with a 2-0 shutout in the finale at a sunny but chilly Mercy Health Stadium.
    In the first game, West Liberty jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with back-to-back two-run innings in the second and third but couldn't hang on for the win.
    Notre Dame cut the lead in half with two runs in the bottom of the third and then pushed eight more runs across the plate in the next two frames to put the game out of reach.
    Jarrett Delbrugge singled twice and drove in a run for the Hilltoppers while Ethan Conley also had a pair of base knocks. Kaden Blomquist added an RBI double and Jake Sherman and Connor Ferguson each had a hit and an RBI.
    Justin Studd and Drake Dobson held the hard-hitting Falcons to just two runs on seven hits in the nightcap but the WLU bats were unable to dent the scoreboard. Isaac Rine had a pair of singles and Blomquist doubled again for the Black and Gold.
    West Liberty steps out of Mountain East Conference play on Tuesday for a scheduled 9-inning game at Indiana (Pa.) before returning home to host Alderson Broaddus in back-to-back MEC twinbills on Friday and Saturday.
  West Liberty                          022 002 0 -   6    6  1
Notre Dame                           002 620 x - 10  13  1
     WLU: Grimm lp (3SO, 2W), Bolander (4) (0SO, 1W), Conley (4) (0SO, 1W), Cerjan (6) (1SO, 0W) and Rine. Delbrugge 2S, rbi; Z.Hawkins 2S; Blomquist D, rbi; Sherman S, rbi; Ferguson S, rbi
     NDC: Fish (3SO, 6W), Clark wp (2SO, 0W), Mendoza (6) (2SO, 2W) and Shadle. Zeuli D, 2S, rbi; Mendoza 2S, 4rbi; Ross 2S, 3rbi; Farrell 2S; N.Miller S, rbi
  West Liberty                          000 000 0 - 0  5  1
Notre Dame                           001 100 x - 2  7  1
     WLU: Studd lp (2SO, 1W), Dobson (5) (3SO, 0W) and Rine. Rine 2S; Blomquist D
     NDC: Farrell wp (5SO, 2W), A.Miller (6) (4SO, 2W) and N.Miller. Zeuli 2S, rbi; N.Miller 2S; Mendoza D, rbi