SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V. - The Mansfield Mountaineers baseball team (7-12, 3-7 PSAC East) traveled to West Virginia on Friday, March 22 to open their weekend series with the Shepherd University Rams (6-12, 1-5 PSAC East).
GAME 1
Austin Lewis once again got the nod to open the series on the bump for the Mountaineers. Lewis threw 5.0 innings, allowed four hits, four runs, two earned runs, and struck out 10 batters.
The Rams opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with an RBI single through the left side.
Shepherd was able to add three more in the bottom of the third with a bases-clearing error by the Mountaineer defense.
Mansfield got on the board when freshman Tyler Swineford belted his first career home run. Driving a two-run shot out to left field to cut the Rams lead to 4-2.
The Rams answered with a much-needed insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when they tripled down the right-field line to go up by three.
In the top of the seventh, the Mountaineers threatened to tie the game after Zachary Shertzer hit the Mounties' second two-run homer of the game to make it a 5-4 ballgame.
With just one out and a runner on first, Mansfield looked to bring home the tying run and send the game to extras.
However, the Rams had other ideas as they retired the final two batters of the game to nail down a 5-4 victory.
GAME 2
After falling just short in Game One, the Mountaineers turned to Eric Gustofson to even the series. Gustofson had a career day throwing a complete game and giving up zero earned runs. He also allowed just three hits and struck out 15 Rams batters.
The Mountaineers scored the first run of game two in the third inning thanks to a Jacob Houtz single that scored Ryan Sekulski.
The two sides were locked into a defensive battle as the game remained 1-0 until the top of the seventh.
In the top half, the Mountaineer offense exploded for six two-out runs. Shertzer singled to score what would be the game-winning run but the offense didn't stop there. Mansfield followed the RBI single with a two-RBI single by Brett Stewart, an RBI single by Swineford, and then a two-run home run by Jackson Halla capped off the inning to put the Mounties up 7-1.
Gustofson closed out the game striking out all three batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh to secure the Mansfield victory.
UP NEXT:
The Mountaineers return to Joseph Shaute Field on Monday, March 25 for the final two games of the series against Shepherd. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
