West Virginia Black Bears series wrap-up v. Lowell Spinners

The Pittsburgh Pirates Short Season-A affiliate, the West Virginia Black Bears, wrapped up their fourth road series of the season Friday night. The Black Bears played at the Lowell Spinners, the Short-Season A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The Black Bears entered the series with a record of 7-10, while the Spinners came into the series with 12-6 record.

Game 1

Game one resulted in an 4-1 loss for the Black Bears. Kevin Newman made his return to the starting lineup. He had been out since July 2nd after taking a foul ball off his foot. Kevin Newman, Ty Moore, Logan Hill and Daniel Arribas had the only hits for the Black Bears with Newman scoring the lone run. Starting pitcher Hector Garcia suffered the loss. He lasted 4.1 innings, giving up three hits, three runs, two walks and four strikeouts. Julio Eusebio pitched two innings and struck out six while allowing just two hits. For the Spinners, Luis Alexander Basabe led the way with two hits, both were two run home runs. Jake Cosart pitched five innings of no hit baseball and collected the win. Bobby Poyner collected his second Save for the Spinners.

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Game 2

Game two resulted in a 12-3 win for the Black Bears. Starting Pitcher JT Brubaker collected his first win of the season while throwing five strong innings, striking out five and allowing just one hit. However, the Black Bears bats were the story of this game. The Black Bears had a huge seven run second inning. Logan Hill led the way with a grand slam. Alexis Bastardo led the team with four hits and one RBI. Daniel Arribas collected three hits and one RBI. Albert Baur, Mitchell Tolman and Hill each had two hits. Ulises Montilla was walked three times in the game. The Spinners had five different batters contribute just one hit each as their bats went quiet. Jose Almonte suffered his first loss of the season after just 1.1 innings, allowing five runs, five walks and only one strike out.

Game 3

Game three resulted in a 3-0 win for the Black Bears. Albert Baur and Mitchell Tolman led the way with two hits a piece. Tolman finished with a double and a triple. Maximo Rivera, Casey Hughston, Logan Hill and Ulises Montilla each had one hit. Montilla had two RBIs while Baur had the other RBI in the game. Bret Helton picked up his first win of the season while going five innings, striking out five and walking three. Sean Keselica picked up his first save of the season. Nick Hibbing and Jonathan Minier joined Helton and Keselica in completing the Black Bears first shut out! For the Spinners, Dioscar Romero suffered the loss despite going 5.2 innings and allowing just three hits. Luis Alexander Basabe, Alex McKeon and Jordon Austin were the only Spinners to collect hits.

Looking Ahead

The West Virginia Black Bears will continue their six game road trip starting Saturday night in Vermont to take on the Lake Monsters in a three game series. The Lake Monsters are an affiliate of the Oakland A’s and also come from the Stedler Division of the New York Penn League. The Black Bears have an off day Tuesday before returning home for a three game series with the State College Spikes. The Spikes are an affiliate of the St Louis Cardinals.

Make sure to tune in to RumBunter as we continue to provide coverage of not only the Pittsburgh Pirates but of the West Virginia Black Bears throughout the season as well!

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