NUTTER FORT, W.Va. – The Fairmont State baseball team began its season with a four-game series versus Salem this weekend. The Falcons took game one of the series and fell in the final three contests.
 
Game One – Fairmont State 4, Salem 3 (8 innings)
The Tigers opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning after a single, a triple and an RBI groundout to go up 2-0. Vince Sabatino doubled with one out in the fifth and Quintin Reep was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Jefferson, W.Va. freshman outfielder Connor Bailey plated home a pair of runs on a double and tied the score at two. After a Tyler Haskins walk, Noah Canterbury put Fairmont State in the lead with an RBI base hit.
 
Ryan Goff singled in the sixth inning with one out but Salem kept the Falcons scoreless. The Tigers evened the score a three in the sixth inning on an error. Neither team managed to score in the seventh and the game went into extra innings. Haskins walked to lead off the Falcons' eighth. Canterbury's second hit of the game moved Haskins to third base and put runners at the corners with no outs. Haskins scored after Dwayne Thomas grounded into a double play that put the Falcons in front. Steven Ricketts slammed the door and preserved the win on the mound for the Falcons.
 
Connor Cramer started on the bump for the Falcons and punched out five batters in five innings of work. Alex Seymour pitched one inning and Ricketts finished the game with two innings and a strikeout.
 
Game Two – Salem 1, Fairmont State 0
Canterbury continued to stay hot at the plate and singled in his first at-bat of the game. Reep doubled with two outs in the third but the game remained scoreless. Canterbury recorded his second hit of game two in the seventh inning with a base knock.

The Tigers led off the seventh inning with a double and a single to set up runners at the corners with no one out. A sacrifice fly to center field was the lone run of the game and the Tigers earned a split on Saturday.
 
Logan McClure shined in his Fairmont State debut and delivered a quality start. The WVU Tech transfer pitched 6.0 innings and struck out three batters while allowing only three hits.
 
Game Three – Salem 7, Fairmont State 0
Haskins began the game with a walk and advanced to third base on a steal and an error. The Falcons stranded Haskins on third and Salem kept the Falcons scoreless. The Tigers plated three runs in the bottom half of the inning after a pair of RBI hits. Sabatino reached first on an infield hit in the second but the Tigers hung another zero. Salem scored one run in innings 2-5 and the Tigers' lead increased to 7-0. Goff singled to lead off the seventh inning but the Falcons could not scratch across a run.
 
Peyton Brown, a transfer from Alice Lloyd College, pitched 2.2 innings in relief without surrendering an earned run in his debut.
 
Game Four – Salem 5, Fairmont State 4 (12 innings)
After Salem jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, Alex Tennant blasted a solo home run in the third inning to tie the score 1-1. Three Falcons crossed home plate in the fifth inning. Reep scored on a wild pitch and Canterbury drove home Haskins on a sacrifice fly to put the Falcons ahead by two runs. Noah Armstrong came up with an RBI double that scored Tennant and the Falcons led 4-1 after five innings.
 
Salem responded with a trio of runs in the sixth inning. Neither team scored in the seventh and the game moved into extra innings. Fairmont State loaded the bases in the top of the 10^th inning but came up empty. Salem scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12^th inning with a two-out hit and won the weekend series.
 
Tennant totaled three hits and scored a pair of runs. Haskins, Sabatino, Canterbury, Armstrong and Goff all finished with one hit. Jacob Young pitched 6.0 innings and struck out four batters. Evan McDade came in relief and kept the Tigers scoreless for three innings. Andrew Coursin pitched in relief for 2.2 innings while allowing one hit and racking up two strikeouts.
 
Up Next
Fairmont State baseball will head south to Millington, Tennessee for a three-game set versus Kentucky Wesleyan beginning on Friday (Feb. 24) at 3 p.m.