Jul. 3—A day after the West Virginia Black Bears’ (18-9-5) series finale against the Frederick Keys was rained out, it looked like the Black Bears might be in for more inclement weather. Clouds loomed overhead and rain began to fall shortly before their Friday contest against the State College Spikes (14-18-0) was set to kick off at Monongalia County Ballpark.
Thankfully, the poor conditions blew over right before the first pitch, and West Virginia pounced on the Spikes to the tune of a five-run first inning. The Black Bears wouldn’t put up any runs after the fact, but their opening salvo was enough to secure a 5-to-2 win.
State College threatened in the top of the first, loading the bases on Black Bears starter Mitch Bratt with two outs. Bratt, West Virginia’s leader in strikeouts with 38 coming into Friday, got out of the jam by punching out Illinois-Springfield’s Zion Pettigrew.
Brate earned the win on the day, striking out six, issuing three walks and allowing one run through four innings.
The Black Bears’ first chance to bat didn’t start off smoothly. Leadoff man Garrett Spain grounded out, and after a Kaeber Rog base hit, Tucker Mitchell grounded into a fielders choice. Two outs, a man on first.
But the two out rally has become a frequent feature of the Black Bears offense, and the next six batters would get on base as Jedd Gyorko’s crew seemed unstoppable going down the lineup.
West Virginia University’s Paul McIntosh got the rally started with a RBI double that Spikes centerfielder Curtis Washington Jr. nearly caught after laying out. A single up the middle from Ryan McCoy would score McIntosh and make the score 2-to-0, and Kevin Dowdell followed up those hits with a two-run long-ball over the left field wall.
“Once I was able to read fastball in his hand, I just knew that I had to stay back and wait on it,” Dowdell said after the game. “I was able to drive it to left field, get it out of there.”
Homeruns are often a rally-ender, but that was not the case Friday. Following Dowdell’s homerun, base hits from Ranko Stevanovic and Jeron Williams would sandwich Amari Bartee’s reaching base on a fielding error.
Williams’ hit scored Stevanovic and turned the order back over to the leadoff spot, where State College starter Richie Holetz’ would stop the bleeding with a strikeout.
The Black Bears could not duplicate even a fraction of their first inning success the rest of the outing, mustering three hits the rest of the way and going down in order three separate innings.
The Spikes, meanwhile, worked to battle back into the game, receiving some timely hits from players like Missouri’s Mark Vierling and Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Marques Paige. Vierling smacked an RBI triple down the first base line in the third, while Paige hit an RBI single in the sixth.
State College had a chance to do even more damage in the sixth inning, with Black Bears reliever Ga’von Wray allowing three hits before striking out James Jett and stranding Spikes runners on first and second.
Wray, a high school senior from Douglasville, Georgia, pitched two innings in relief of Bratt, allowing one run while striking out a pair of batters.
Jefferson College’s Trevor Tietz came into the ballgame to try and preserve West Virginia’s three-run lead and earn his second save of the season. He took care of the Spikes in order, attacking the zone and striking out two to seal the win. Tietz took the team lead in saves with his performance.
The win against State College amounted to three in a row for the Black Bears, and five games in a row without a loss (they tied the Mahoning Valley Scrappers 9-to-9 on June 27).
“I think our team’s coming together very well,” Kaeber Rog said. “At the beginning of the season, we had a slow start, but now we just all came together with our head coach. I think he does a very good job, he has us all together, to play together, to win. It’s been very fun.”
Kaeber Rog finished Friday with two hits, getting on base three times in four at bats— a ball put in play in the fourth inning was originally ruled an infield hit but later changed to a fielding error. Rog came into Friday with a team-best .338 batting average, and raised that number even more with his outing in the series opener.
“I’m very happy about [my performance],” Rog said. “I work hard for it. It’s very nice to see results coming, but I’m trying to do anything to help our team win everyday.”
The team-first mentality was echoed by Dowdell, a unique player who has seen time as a pitcher, a DH, and an outfielder this season.
“I just try to help my team win,” Dowdell said. “If that means I’ve got to do it on the mound or at the plate, I’ll do it either way.”
The Black Bears will see more of State College on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Mon County Ballpark.
Box Score
Player AB R H RBI BB SO 2B 3B HR
Garrett Spain 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Kaeber Rog 4 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0
Tucker Mitchell 4 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Paul McIntosh 4 1 2 1 0 1 1 0 0
Ryan McCoy 4 1 1 1 0 3 0 0 0
Kevin Dowdell 3 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 1
Ranko Stevanovich 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0
Amari Bartee 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
Jeron Williams 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0
Totals 33 5 10 5 3 11 3 1 1
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR
Mitch Bratt 4.0 4 1 1 3 6 0
Ga’von Wray 2.0 3 1 1 0 2 0
Patrick Pridgen 2.0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Trevor Tietz 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals 7 2 2 3 13 0
Reach Nick Henthorn at (304) 367-254 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.