West Virginia Black Bears series wrap-up v. DoubleDays

The Pittsburgh Pirates Short Season-A affiliate, the West Virginia Black Bears, wrapped up their seventh home series of the season Wednesday night. The Black Bears came home to host the Auburn DoubleDays. The Black Bears entered the series with a record of 22-20, while the DoubleDays came into the series with an 20-21 record.

Game 1

Game one on Monday resulted in a 6-3 win for the Black Bears. Kevin Kramer led the way with three hits, two walks and two RBIs. Ryan Nagle was held without a hit but added two RBIs. Daniel Arribas, Casey Hughston and Mitchell Tolman each added two hits. Christian Kelley, Albert Baur, Logan Hill and Kevin Newman each added a hit. Arribas and Baur each added an RBI.

Black Bears starting pitcher Juan Paula went five innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits and five strikeouts. Sean Keselica threw two innings and allowed just one hit, one walk and struck out two. Edgar Santana picked up his third save of the season while going two innings and allowing two hits and struck out three.

Game 2

Game two on Tuesday resulted in an 8-3 loss for the Black Bears. The Black Bears gave up a big four run second inning that proved to be the difference in this one. The Black Bears battled back to make it 4-2 in the third on a Kevin Kramer double that scored Christian Kelley and Logan Ratledge. Kramer hit his double off of DoubleDays starting pitcher, Erick Fedde. Fedde was the Washington Nationals first round pick last season and is working his way back from Tommy John Surgery. Each team added a run in the sixth inning making it 5-3 but Auburn plated three more runs in the eighth to put the game away at 8-3. Kevin Kramer doubled in the ninth off of Mariano Rivera III but the Black Bears wouldn’t get another hit.

Kevin Kramer led the way with three hits, including two doubles, and two RBIs. Albert Baur and Christian Kelley each added two hits. Casey Hughston and Mitchell Tolman each added a hit.

Black Bears starting pitcher Seth McGarry suffered his second loss of the season while going five innings. He allowed four earned runs on three hits, two walks and six strikeouts. McGarry threw the ball well but the big inning is what proved costly. Nick Hibbing pitched two innings in relief and allowed one earned run on two hits, one walk and a strikeout. Cesilio Pimentel pitched one inning and allowed three earned runs on one hit, two walks and two strikeouts. Jerry Mulderig pitched the final inning and struck out two.

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Game 3

Game three on Wednesday resulted in an 8-5 loss for the Black Bears. The Black Bears were led by starting pitcher JT Brubaker. He threw five innings and allowed just four hits, three walks and three strikeouts. This is Brubaker’s fourth straight scoreless start. The Black Bears got up early by scoring runs in the first, second and sixth. Leading 3-0 entering the top of the eighth, the Black Bears were bit by the big inning. Tate Scioneaux allowed five runs on two hits in just one-third of an inning. Down 5-3, Casey Hughston hit his first professional home run in the eighth to cut the lead to 5-4. Albert Baur came up with two outs in the ninth and hit a ground rule double to right field to tie the game at five. The Doubledays came out in the tenth and scored three runs off of Julio Eusebio. The Black Bears were unable to get anything going in the bottom of the tenth as they suffered three straight ground outs.

Casey Hughston led the way with two hits, including his first home run, and two RBIs. Logan Hill added two doubles and an RBI. Kevin Newman, Kevin Kramer, Daniel Arribas, Albert Baur and Maximo Rivera each added a hit. Arribas and Baur each collected RBIs. Newman and Hill also had stolen bases.

Looking Ahead

The Black Bears will remain home for a three-game series with the State College Spikes. Then on Sunday, the Black Bears will head to Williamsport to take on the division leading Crosscutters in a three game series.

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

Next: Black Bears/ValleyCats Recap

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