BUCKHANNON – West Virginia Wesleyan’s baseball team capitalized on an early offensive surge to secure a 6-3 game one home victory over Davis & Elkins on Friday afternoon in a doubleheader.
The Bobcats put up four runs in the bottom of the second, sparked by key hits from Ethan Fraley and Jack Tilton. Fraley delivered a two-RBI single that brought home Matt Neach and Josh Ayala. Shortly after, Tilton followed with a two-RBI single of his own, scoring Fraley and Luke Burner. This inning set the tone for Wesleyan, who tallied 11 hits overall on the day.
In the third inning, Grant Shumaker walked and came around to score on a Drew Jrolf RBI single, extending the lead to 5-0. Despite a pushback from Davis & Elkins in the fifth, where the Senators plated three runs on a two-RBI double by Larry Kusan and a miscue by the Wesleyan defense, the Bobcats responded immediately. Tilton sparked the bottom of the fifth with a single, and Thatcher Poteat knocked him in with an RBI single, pushing the lead back to 6-3.
Wesleyan’s starter, Hunter Eplin, earned the win with a complete-game effort, scattering six hits and three runs (two earned) over seven innings. He struck out three and walked only one, efficiently shutting the door on multiple Davis & Elkins threats, particularly in the late innings when the Senators left five runners stranded over the final three frames.
After dropping the opener of the doubleheader, Davis & Elkins stormed back with a dramatic seventh-inning rally to edge Wesleyan 5-4 in Game 2.
Wesleyan built a 4-2 lead thanks to a series of timely hits and aggressive baserunning. The Bobcats struck for a run in the third on Poteat’s RBI single, then added two more in the fourth behind a sacrifice fly from Tilton and an RBI single from Shumaker. Wesleyan tacked on another in the fifth when Poteat scored on a groundout, putting the home side ahead 4-2 heading into the late innings.
Down to their final three outs, D&E delivered a decisive rally. Leadoff man Joseph De La Nuez sparked the inning with his third hit of the day, followed by a single from Larry Kusan. Mason Brenneman brought home Nuez with a groundout, cutting the gap to 4-3. Zach Calef-Boring then roped an RBI double to tie the game, and pinch-hitter Isaac Lane delivered the game-winning RBI single, scoring Calef-Boring for the 5-4 lead.
Closer Carson Gorby shut down the Bobcats in the bottom of the seventh, working around a pair of singles to seal the victory.
