West Virginia Tech University Baseball ⚾️ competes in a rather top-heavy River States Conference, and we head into the series today versus Rio Grande with a league mark of just 2-13.

The postseason league tournament takes place in Ohio at the end of the season, and the top six teams make the guest list.

At the top of this post, you see 👀 the lowere portion of the league standings with four weekend series left (12 games). The upside for us is that we are still in this because we have completed our version of murders row.

Rio Grande went 15 – 5 in non-conference play and is well coached. They will be looking at this weekend in the exact same manner, so we should have a great weekend of baseball ⚾️ starting at 3 pm today over at Linda K Epling Stadium 🏟.

If I had an editing staff, I could trim this down to where it would que up at the right spot, but I don’t, so it won’t. If you get past the first 15 seconds, it’s Jim Mora as only Jim Mora could be !

Source: Reddit
https://share.google/o7h3D5BNstxJ3hFNd

Yes, it’s game day here in Beckley, and we are indeed talking about the playoffs !

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

When I first had the opportunity to ask Mr Doug Epling how he got away with having Bible Verses all over the outside walls 🧱, I loved his response.

” When you build something with your own money 💰, you don’t have to hide from your beliefs.”

In a world 🌎 engulfed with political correctness, it’s a breath of fresh air to see someone who is able to stand for what he or she believes in !

Bluefield University has arrived, so its time to go over and read their roster with  their Head Coach.

The first pitch is set for 1pm, and it’s a beautiful day for a baseball ⚾️ game!

The part of being connected with Lawrence Nesselrodt and WVU-T is, without a doubt, the circle 🔵 of top shelf people that are involved with his efforts.

Seeing 👀 this in one of our conversations this morning did two things. First, it made me feel really old ( which I am ), and second, it reminded me that Baseball existed for the Golden Bears 🐻 well before the two of us did.

Tomorrow afternoon, we host one of our neighbors from down the turnpike, and this offers one more opportunity to shout out the two greatest words in Sports : Play Ball !