Morgantown, W.Va. — The West Liberty University baseball team opened its doubleheader against Fairmont State in style on Sunday at Mylan Park, rolling to a 10-3 victory behind a dominant performance at the plate from Jacob Sherman and a complete-game effort from Chase Lautner.

Sherman set the tone early, launching a solo home run to right field in the first inning to give the Hilltoppers an early lead. West Liberty kept the pressure on in the second, as Kobe Hill scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

After Fairmont State trimmed the deficit with a solo homer in the bottom of the second, West Liberty erupted for a three-run third. Hill delivered the big blow, ripping a bases-clearing double to right-center to stretch the lead to 5-1.

Sherman struck again in the fourth inning, blasting his second home run of the game — this time to left field — to pad the Hilltoppers' advantage. Fairmont answered with a two-run homer in the fifth, but West Liberty quickly put the game out of reach in the sixth. William Glick crushed a three-run homer to left-center, pushing the lead to 9-3.

Sherman capped his monster day with an RBI double down the left-field line in the seventh, finishing 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Overall, the Hilltoppers racked up 12 hits, including multi-hit games from Sherman, Connor Huzicka (3-for-4), and Luke Marsh (2-for-3).

On the mound, Lautner (2-5) was steady from start to finish. The right-hander scattered just three hits over seven innings, allowing three earned runs while striking out three and walking one in a 107-pitch effort.

Game 2 

After a dominant Game One victory, the West Liberty University baseball team came up just short in the nightcap, falling 6-5 to Fairmont State in a hard-fought contest.

The Hilltoppers started strong once again, jumping out to an early lead. Luke Marsh scored the game's first run in the second inning, crossing the plate on a Fairmont State fielding error. In the third, Adam Och delivered the big swing, blasting a two-run homer to left-center to extend the West Liberty lead to 3-0.

West Liberty continued to apply pressure in the fourth. Jacob Sherman singled up the middle to drive in another run, and Och later drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-0. However, the Hilltoppers couldn't hold off Fairmont State's rally.

Fairmont chipped away with a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth, then tied the game with a four-run fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run homer. The Falcons completed the comeback in the sixth, taking a 6-5 lead on a pair of bases-loaded walks and an RBI double.

Despite a solid offensive performance — including multi-hit games from Marsh and Hunter White — the Hilltoppers couldn't find the late-inning magic to reclaim the lead. Ryan Clark (0-3) took the loss in relief, while starter Jacob Watson worked into the fifth inning, striking out three.