BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The West Liberty University baseball team held onto sole possession of second place in the Mountain East Conference North Division here Saturday by splitting a doubleheader with Fairmont State at the Bridgeport Recreation Complex.
Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (20-26, 15-13) saw the Falcons (11-33, 10-18) come from behind to take an 8-6 nod in the opener but WLU returned the favor with a late rally in the second game for a 7-4 win – the Black and Gold's 11th win in their last 15 games.
In the first game, West Liberty carried a 6-1 lead into the fifth but couldn't hold off a late Fairmont surge. The Falcons scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull within a run and then sent three more runners across the plate in the sixth to complete the win.
Ryan Talbert homered, singled and drove in two runs for WLU while Ty Helmke had a big game with two singles, two RBIs and four stolen bases. Will Balgo clubbed a two-run homer and James Salvatori doubled in a losing cause.
In the second game, Fairmont jumped on West Liberty starter Ethan Conley for four runs over the first three innings to open up a 4-2 lead. Conley settled in to blank the Falcons on just three singles over the final four innings and the Hilltopper bats came through in the end.
Kayne McGee cut the lead to 4-3 with a solo home run in the top of the sixth but Fairmont escaped with no further damage to take the one-run lead into the seventh.
Talbert jump-started what proved to be the winning rally with a one-out single. A walk put runners on first and second before Balgo brought home the tying run with a sharp single to left. Trevor Thomas doubled home the go-ahead run and McGee followed with a two-run single up the middle to conclude the scoring.
Conley retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh, evening his record at 3-3 with the complete-game win. He struck out seven Falcons while walking just one.
McGee had a three-hit game and drove in three runs with two singles and a home run while Balgo brought in two runs with three base knocks. Talbert singled twice and scored a pair of runs while Helmke chipped in with an RBI single.
West Liberty closes out the regular season next week with a weekend series against third-place Wheeling. The Hilltoppers host the Cardinals for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday before heading to the I-470 Complex on Sunday for the last two games of the regular season.
BASEBALL
Fairmont State 8, West Liberty 6
West Liberty 240 000 0 - 6 10 0
Fairmont State 100 043 x - 8 10 1
WLU: Dobson (5SO, 5W), Winter lp (5) (2SO, 0W) and Z.Hawkins. Talbert HR, S, 2rbi; Helmke 2S, 2rbi; Balgo HR, 2rbi; Salvatori D
FSU: Swiger (5SO, 0W), Loveday (5) (3SO, 1W), Ricketts wp (6) (0SO, 0W), Taylor (7) (0SO, 0W) and Haskins. Goff HR, S, 2rbi; Tennant 2S, 2rbi; Perez 2S, rbi; Bailey 2S
West Liberty 7, Fairmont State 4
West Liberty 110 001 4 - 7 12 1
Fairmont State 121 000 0 - 4 8 1
WLU: Conley wp (7SO, 1W) and Goodyear. McGee HR, 2S, 3rbi; Balgo 3S, 2rbi; Talbert 2S; Thomas D, rbi; Helmke S, rbi
FSU: Young (6SO, 1W), Seymour (7) (1SO, 1W), McDade (7) (0SO, 0W) and Sikoski. Bailey 2S, rbi; Miller 2S, rbi; Armstrong S, rbi; Tennant D
