BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Fairmont State baseball team dropped a conference doubleheader versus West Liberty in the opening two games on Thursday (April 27) afternoon at the Bridge Sports Complex in Bridgeport, W.Va.
 
Game One – West Liberty 4, Fairmont State 3
After two scoreless innings, the Falcons broke through for three runs in the bottom of the third. Alex Tennant lined a double to right center to score Ryan Goff to start the scoring. The next batter, Noah Canterbury launched a no-doubter over the right field wall to complete the three-run inning for the Falcons. Connor Cramer held WLU scoreless through five innings until the Hilltoppers hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to cut the Fairmont State lead to one after six innings.
 
After a leadoff hit by pitch and a sacrifice bunt, West Liberty hit their second two-run home run of the game to seize the lead. With two outs, Vince Sabatino smoked a double off the top of the left field wall to put the potential tying run on second base. The 'Toppers secured the final out of the game and held on 4-3 in the opener.
 
Ryan Goff and Isaac Miller joined Sabatino, Tennant and Canterbury with base hits. Cramer was efficient and struck out five hitters while giving up just three hits on 93 pitches in 7.0 innings.
 
Game Two – West Liberty 12, Fairmont State 7
WLU smacked a three-run home run in the second inning before Miller roped a double down the left field line that scored Noah Armstrong that trimmed the deficit to two. The next batter, Cade Sikoski, hit an infield single and Miller scored on a throwing error to make the score 3-2 West Liberty. WLU scratched across a run in the top of the third to make the score 4-2. Fairmont State grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third after a three-run inning. Goff scored on a wild pitch and Canterbury hit a sacrifice fly to score Sabatino and tied the game. Perez lifted his second home run of the season to left field and the Falcons led 5-4 after three.
 
The Hilltoppers amassed a five-run top of the fourth inning to control a four-run lead. WLU added one in the fifth and two in the seventh and scored eight-straight runs and led by seven in the middle of the seventh frame. Goff drove in a run in the seventh inning and Canterbury was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Falcons could not overcome the margin and the Hilltoppers took the first two matchups of the series.
 
Four different Falcons finished the second game with two hits (Goff, Canterbury, Armstrong and Miller) and nine Falcons each had at least one hit. As a team, Fairmont State finished with the second-highest hit total of the season with 13 knocks.
 
Up Next
The Fairmont State baseball team is set to complete the series versus West Liberty this weekend. Check fightingfalcons.com and follow @fsfalcons on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest schedule changes.