The University of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä baseball team closed out the Mountain East Conference regular season with a decisive doubleheader sweep over West Virginia State University, winning the seven-inning games 14-0 and 19-9 Monday afternoon at Cal Bailey Field in Institute.
The sweep secures the top seed in the MEC tournament for UC (33-15 overall, 25-7 MEC). The six-team double-elimination tournament is scheduled for Thursday through Sunday at Linda K. Epling Field in Beckley.
WVSU ends its season with a 27-20 record (17-15 in the MEC). The Yellow Jackets finished in fourth place in the MEC South Division standings, and only the top three teams in each division advance to the conference tournament.
First-round pairings for the MEC tournament are to be determined.
Monday’s high-scoring doubleheader was a far cry from Sunday’s twin bill at UC, where the Golden Eagles won the first game 1-0 and the Yellow Jackets took the nightcap 4-0.
UC 14, WVSU 0, game 1: In Monday’s first game, UC’s Owen MacNeil (6-2) and Daniel Kanagy combined on a one-hit shutout. MacNeil went the first six innings, allowing the one hit — an infield single by Andrew Stone in the bottom of the third — while waking one and striking out 10.
The Golden Eagles got on the board in the top of the third on Eric Chartier’s three-run home run off WVSU starter Quincy Thornton (4-3).
UC added five runs in the top of the fifth on a bases-loaded passed ball, a two-run single by Drew Klaserner, an RBI single by Giano Zuccaro and a run-scoring base hit by Jordan Bailey.
The Golden Eagles padded their lead with four runs in the top of the sixth on Pete Costigan’s RBI single, a sacrifice fly by Andre Martinez and a two-run single by Tyler Dellerman, putting UC up 12-0.
Evan Ulrich’s pinch-hit two-run home run in the top of the seventh finished the scoring.
Chartier finished 2 for 2 with three RBIs and three runs while Zuccaro and Braxton Boddorf both went 2 for 4 for the Golden Eagles.
UC 19, WVSU 9, game 2: In Monday’s high-scoring nightcap, ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä put together a 10-run fourth inning to pull away.
Chartier’s two-run home run in the top of the first put UC on top 2-0, but WVSU answered with three runs in the bottom half to take its only lead of the doubleheader. Stone got it started with a leadoff home run, the tying run scored on a wild pitch and Matthew Kline’s RBI single put the Yellow Jackets up 3-2.
UC reclaimed the lead in the top of the third with three runs on a two-run home run by Clay Hale and an RBI single by Boddorf.
RBI singles in the bottom of the third by Trey Junkins and Ryan Kay pulled WVSU even at 5-5 before UC’s big 10-run fourth inning.
Chartier gave UC the lead with an RBI single before Ulrich drove in one run on a sacrifice fly and a second run scored when the fly ball was dropped for an error, giving UC an 8-5 advantage.
The barrage continued with a run-scoring wild pitch, a two-run double by Costigan, an RBI base hit by Jack Reisenweber, a sacrifice fly by Dellerman and a two-run home run be Boddorf.
UC wasn’t done, though. The Golden Eagles added four more in the top of the fifth on Klaserner’s RBI double and Griffin Adkins’ three-run pinch-hit home run, putting UC up 19-5.
WVSU didn’t go down quietly, scoring a run in the fifth on a solo homer by Kline, two in the sixth on Junkins’ two-run shot and one more in the seventh on a UC error.
Boddorf led UC in the nightcap, going 4 for 5 with three runs and three RBIs, while Brayden McCallister (2 for 4, three runs), Chartier (2 for 3, three RBIs), Costigan (2 for 3, three runs, two RBIs) and Clay Hale (3 for 4) all had big contributions to the Golden Eagles’ 17-hit attack.
Junkins, Kay and Kline had two hits each for WVSU.
