Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 INSTITUTE, W.Va. -- Fairmont State Baseball grabbed victories on the diamond this afternoon as the Fighting Falcons took down West Virginia State. The Falcons took game one by a final score of 10-5 and won the nightcap, 4-3, over the Yellow Jackets on Sunday afternoon.

Fairmont State improves to 11-10 on the season and a perfect 6-0 in Mountain East Conference action. The Yellow Jackets fall to 9-8 on the 2022 campaign and 2-4 in conference contests.

GAME 1 (Fairmont State 10, WVSU 5)

Fairmont State put up seven runs in the fifth inning as the Falcons took the first game, 10-5. 

Noah Canterbury singled through the left side in the top of the fifth inning to put the Falcons on top 4-3 with two runners crossing home plate.

WVSU's Trey Junkins hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first to give the Yellow Jackets the 3-0 lead. Fairmont State battled back in the third as Canterbury got back on track with a two-RBI single that plated Justin Brown and Jacob Goodnight. The Falcons trailed by one run after three innings.

The fifth inning proved friendly to Fairmont State as seven Falcons touched home plate in the inning. Justin Brown started the inning with a single to third base and Goodnight followed with a five-pitch walk. Alex Tennant loaded the bases with a four-pitch walk and Canterbury singled the go-ahead runs in as Fairmont State gained the 4-3 advantage. Dwayne Thomas drew a walk in his plate appearance as Zachary Musgrove had a bases-clearing double to give the Falcons the 7-3 lead. PJ Lanham put an exclamation point on the inning with a two-run blast over the left-field wall as Fairmont State held the 9-3 decision.

In the sixth inning, the Falcons added another run to the scoreboard as Musgrove hit an RBI single up the middle as Fairmont State led by seven runs.

The Yellow Jackets trimmed the deficit to 10-5 in the bottom of the seventh, but Steven Ricketts closed the door on the rally with the final two outs of the contest.

Connor Cramer went six and one-third of innings pitched on the mound to collect his third win on the season as the redshirt junior allowed five runs (five earned), five hits, three walks, and struck out eight batters on the day.

Musgrove and Canterbury each had four RBIs in the first game as Lanham added two RBIs to his season totals.

GAME 2 (Fairmont State 4, WVSU 3)

The Falcons took the second game from Institute as well with the 4-3 decision over West Virginia State. Lanham doubled to the left-center gap to give Fairmont State the 3-2 advantage. The Falcons got an additional run after a fielding error by WVSU's third baseman as Musgrove scored on the play.

West Virginia State's starting pitcher Chase Norris went five full innings as Fairmont State was unable to manufacture any runs on the Yellow Jackets through the first five innings.

The sixth inning proved critical in the Falcons' win as Canterbury lifted a ball over the center-field fence to tie the score at two apiece with the Yellow Jackets. Dwayne Thomas continued the strong play with a single in the at-bat following Canterbury. Musgrove followed Thomas with a single of his own. Lanham plated the go-ahead run in the sixth inning with an RBI double to left-center to make the score 3-2 in favor of Fairmont State. Musgrove plated the fourth run of the game for the Falcons on a fielding error by the Yellow Jacket third baseman.

WVSU was able to get one run back in the bottom half of the sixth inning after Vince Sabatino registered a fielding error with two outs. Alex Pane held the Yellow Jackets to just the one run as Fairmont State had the one-run lead heading to the seventh inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ben Taylor got the call out of the bullpen and secured his first save of the season with three straight outs as Fairmont State collected the 4-3 win and swept the Yellow Jackets on Cal Bailey Field on Sunday afternoon.

Brett Whiteman took the no-decision as he threw four innings on the day and struck out five batters while allowing three walks, four hits, and two runs (zero earned). Pane earned the victory on the mound with two strong innings of relief while allowing one run (zero earned), one walk, and striking out one Yellow Jacket in the nightcap.

Canterbury added two more RBIs for six RBIs on the day to go along with four total hits in the two contests.

Fairmont State (11-10, 6-0 MEC) is back on the field tomorrow afternoon as the Falcons head to the University of Charleston (13-8, 5-1 MEC) tomorrow afternoon for a doubleheader with the Golden Eagles. The first pitch from UC's Welch Athletic Complex is set for 1 p.m.