INSTITUTE — Great pitching from Anthony Hernandez and timely small ball offense propelled West Virginia Wesleyan past West Virginia State, 2-1, in a tightly contested Mountain East Conference clash at Cal Bailey Field in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Monday afternoon.
Hernandez (2-1) was lights-out, spinning a complete-game six-hitter while striking out three and walking three across seven innings. He worked around multiple scoring threats and benefited from a flawless defense behind him, allowing just a lone run in the opening frame.
The game began with early promise for State (14-15, 6-8 MEC), who plated their only run in the first inning. After a leadoff walk by Kyle Waters, Brodie Guenther roped a two-out RBI double to right-center to give the Yellow Jackets the early 1-0 edge.
But Wesleyan (7-20, 4-10 MEC) responded with gritty situational play and capitalized on a miscue in the fourth. Drew Jrolf led off with a single and moved to third on a second baseman’s error. That set the stage for a textbook double play ball from Kohei Fujishita, which allowed Jrolf to score the game-tying run.
The decisive blow came in the seventh. Josh Ayala sparked the rally with a leadoff double to deep right. After a sacrifice bunt by Alex Smith advanced Ayala to third, Malik Wood lifted a sac fly to center field, scoring what proved to be the game-winning run.
Despite the loss, Ayden Hodges turned in a strong performance for West Virginia State. The junior went the distance, giving up just three hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out six.
Offensively, Connor Fizer led State with a pair of doubles, while Waters and Overaitis also contributed with hits. The Yellow Jackets had opportunities, including a leadoff double in the sixth and a runner in scoring position in the seventh, but couldn’t crack Hernandez’s rhythm.
Wesleyan’s offense was held to just three hits as well—Ayala’s double, Jrolf’s single, and a bunt from Shumaker—but they made them count. Wood and Ayala each added a stolen base, and Wesleyan played error-free baseball in the field.
After dropping a pitcher’s duel in the first game of the doubleheader, State responded in a big way, riding an 11-hit attack and key relief pitching to take the nightcap 6–3 over Wesleyan.
The Yellow Jackets came out aggressive and stayed resilient, scoring in four of the first five innings before letting their bullpen slam the door to split the series. Jared Nethercut tossed three scoreless innings to earn the win, allowing just three hits while striking out one and inducing a trio of inning-ending outs in key spots.
Wesleyan again showed signs of fight, led by Kohei Fujishita’s solo home run in the fourth—his first of the season—and a pair of hits from both Grant Shumaker and Alex Smith. However, the Bobcats couldn’t muster enough offense late, stranding seven runners and grounding into three double plays.
West Virginia State opened the scoring with a bang in the first inning. Kyle Waters doubled to start the frame and later came home on a double-play ball. Two batters later, Nathan Paulsen laced a double and scored on a two-out RBI single by Tyler Overaitis.
After Wesleyan trimmed the deficit to 2–1 on a sac groundout by Smith in the second, the Yellow Jackets bounced right back. RBI hits from Michael Bittinger and Paulsen extended the lead to 4–1 in the third.
Fujishita’s blast and a wild pitch that scored Josh Ayala helped Wesleyan claw within 4–3 in the top of the fourth. But again, State answered—this time with a squeeze of aggressive baserunning. Ethan Spolarich singled and eventually scored on a daring steal of home during a double steal with teammate Aidan Paulsen in the fourth inning, pushing the lead to 5–3.
Spolarich struck again in the fifth with his second RBI single of the game, plating Paulsen and giving the Jackets a 6–3 cushion. That was more than enough for Nethercut, who pitched clean sixth and seventh innings after taking over from Riley Vadasz in the fifth.
The Bobcats’ starter Eli Brogan (0–2) was tagged for 11 hits and six earned runs over 4.1 innings. Drake Long and Austin Mann pitched in relief, holding State scoreless over the final 1.2 innings, but the early damage proved too much to overcome.
Waters, Paulsen, Bittinger, and Spolarich each collected two hits for State, which stole three bases and played with high energy on the basepaths. The Yellow Jackets also turned two key double plays defensively to erase Wesleyan threats.
