MASON, Ohio - The West Liberty University baseball team earned another split against Malone Friday afternoon with a comeback victory in game two.

The Hilltoppers split the four-game series, 2-2, winning game two both days. West Liberty moves to 3-5 and Malone is now 4-2 on the young season.

Trevor Thomas and Kayne McGee both went 4-7 at the plate over the two games. Thomas had five RBI and laced the game-winning double in the top of the seventh of game two. He also closed out game two to earn the win on the mound. McGee had three of his four hits in game two and legged out two doubles on the day with an RBI and run scored in the finale.

Game 2: WLU (8) - Malone (7)
Malone struck first with two runs in the bottom of the first, the Hilltoppers were able limit the damage however, stranding three base runners. 

West Liberty evened the game in the top of the third with a pair of runs. McGee singled home Ty Helmke and James Salvatori smacked a double plating Jacob Sherman on back-to-back at bats with two outs.

The tie was short lived, as the Pioneers bombed a three-run home run with two outs in the bottom half of the third to go up 5-2.

After a pair of scoreless frames in the fourth, the Hilltopper offense erupted for four runs to regain the lead. The first four batters reached base including a Ryan Talbert two-run double. Salvatori and Thomas drove home runs five and six with sac flies, as WLU went back in front 6-5.

The lead changes were not done yet. Malone manufactured a run to tie it off a hit by pitch, sac bunt, wild pitch, and sac fly sequence. Then, the Pioneers got the next batter to second off a walk and stolen base, who then came home on a two-out single to go up 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth.

The Hilltoppers showed patience at the plate and drew two walks and a hit by pitch to load the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh. Another Salvatori sac fly, his third RBI of the game tied the game up at 6. The next batter, Thomas roped a double into the left center gap to give West Liberty the lead. Thomas then went on to the rubber and closed out the game in the bottom half for the win.

Thomas finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBI, while McGee went 3-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. The Hilltoppers totaled four doubles in the game with one from Talbert, McGee, Salvatori, and Thomas, and had three sac flies, two by Salvatori and one by Thomas.

Game 1: WLU (3) - Malone (5)
West Liberty held the Pioneers off the board in the first inning for the first time this year and scored its first first inning run since game one of the season at Union, getting ahead 3-0. Trevor Thomas smacked a two-run single to right center after Jacob Sherman came across on a Will Balgo infield hit earlier in the inning. 

The offense went silent after the three-run, four-hit first inning. Runners got in scoring position in three of the final four innings, including a Kayne McGee double in the top of the seventh with two outs, but the Hilltoppers could not push them home.

Malone rallied for two runs in the second and three in the third, before Ethan Conley shut them down from the mound over the final three innings, but that would be all the Pioneers needed to open the day with a win. Conley ended the game allowing just one hit and one walk facing 11 batters recording the last nine outs in shutout fashion.

James Salvatori and Thomas both finished 2-for-4 in the game. Salvatori scored a run and Thomas drove two in. Sherman and McGee recorded extra base hits with doubles in the first and last innings, respectively. Drake Dobson suffered the loss for WLU on the mound.

Up Next
West Liberty will take on Pitt-Johnstown in a neutral site four-game series in Cadiz, Ohio on March 4 and 5.