Beckley, West Virginia – West Virginia Tech University trailed 6-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning at home on Tuesday, but the bats woke up, allowing the Golden Bears to escape with a 10-9 victory.
Angel Leiva ripped a two out single to score Brayden Kiblinger from second base to send the fans at Lunda K Epling Stadium home happy.
Kiplinger coaxed a walk from Noah Burtner after two were out. Burtner hit Nolan Copeland with a pitch to move Kiplinger into scoring position and set the table for Leiva to play the role of hero.
Jordan Ramsey opened the game for Bluefield by depositing the first pitch of the game over the left centerfield fence. WVU-T bounced back in the bottom of the inning, tying the game on an infield single from Cody Cooper. But the bats went quiet over the next four innings, leaving the home team down 6-1, heading into the bottom of the six.
Nate Wolfe led off with a triple and three batters later, Kiblinger added a rare second triple of the frame. By the time the Rams recorded the third out, seven Golden Bears had touched home plate. Skipper Lawrence Nesselrodt sent 12 to the plate during the uprising, and five Golden Bears picked up an RBI.
WVU-T protected their first lead, 8-6 until the top of the eighth inning. Bluefield regained the lead on a 3-run inside the park home run from Shawn Cherry.
Trailing 9-8 heading into the bottom of the eighth, Nesselrodt pulled out all of the stops in hopes of evening the score. Gabe Templeton led off with a single, and JJ Polvinale laid down a perfect bunt to move Templeton into position. Bluefield threw behind him, and the error moved him to third base. Carson Brown executed a textbook suicide squeeze, and the teams headed to the ninth at 9-9.
Clayton Hargus took the mound as the ninth WVU-T pitcher of the day and pitched around a runner on third base to position himself for the victory.
The Golden Bears return to Epling Stadium on Friday to open a three game set with River States Conference rival, Rio Grande. The first pitch is slated for 3pm with a doable header set for Saturday at Noon.
Bluefield University … 132 000 030 – 9 15
West Virginia Tech…. 100 007 011 – 10 14
Two out when winning run scored.
WP – Clayton Hargus
LP – Noah Burtner
A.S.P.N on The Hill 