West Virginia Black Bears series wrap-up v. Crosscutters
The Pittsburgh Pirates Short Season-A affiliate, the West Virginia Black Bears, wrapped up their final home series of the regular season Friday night. The Black Bears hosted the Williamsport Crosscutters. The Crosscutters are an affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Black Bears entered the series with a record of 37-33, while the Muckdogs came into the series with an 44-26 record.
Game 1
Game one on Wednesday resulted in a 6-5 win for the Black Bears. The Black Bears got the bats going early scoring three runs in the first. Ryan Nagle walked with the bases loaded, scoring Christian Kelley. Albert Baur followed with a single that scored Ty Moore and Carlos Munoz. Then, in the second inning, Ty Moore singled scoring Erik Forgione and Mitchell Tolman. Then the Black Bears bats went cold for awhile. The Cutters scored two runs in the third and then scored three in the seventh to tie the game. We would head to extra innings. In the bottom of the eleventh, Carlos Munoz walked and was pinch run for by Alexis Bastardo. Ryan Nagle would strike out and Bastardo would be caught stealing to give the Black Bears two outs. David Andriese and Ke’Bryan Hayes would walk. Casey Hughston would single down the left field line scoring Andriese for the win.
Ty Moore and Albert Baur led the way with two hits each. Ke’Bryan Hayes, Casey Hughston and Erik Forgione each added a hit. Moore had two RBIs while Nagle, Baur and Hughston each had one.
Black Bears starting pitcher JT Brubaker went six innings and allowed two runs on four hits, one walk and seven strikeouts. Nick Hibbing went 0.2 innings and allowed three runs (two earned), on two hits and one walk. Tate Scioneaux went 4.1 innings and allowed just two hits and five strikeouts while picking up his first win.
Game 2
Game two on Thursday resulted in a 2-1 win for the Black Bears. The Cutters got on the board early scoring a run in the top of the first on a Josh Tobias home run. The Black Bears would answer in the second when Daniel Arribas scored on a Ke’Bryan Hayes sacrifice fly. Daniel Arribas would single and score again in the bottom of the fourth on a Casey Hughston sacrifice fly.
The Black Bears were led on offense by Mitchell Tolman, Christian Kelley, Daniel Arribas and Ryan Nagle each with two hits. Ke’Bryan Hayes added a hit and had an RBI. Casey Hughston added an RBI.
Dario Agrazal went six innings and picked up his sixth win of the season. He allowed one run on six hits and four strikeouts. Stephan Meyer picked up his first save with the Black Bears while going three innings and allowing just one hit and four strikeouts. Daniel Zamora pitched one inning and allowed just one hit and one strikeout.
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Game 3
Game three on Friday resulted in a 2-0 loss for the Black Bears. The Williamsport Cutters scored first in the top of the second inning when Jose Pujols scored on a Venn Biter ground out. The Cutters would score again in the top of the eighth when Josh Tobias doubled scoring Zach Coppola to make it 2-0. That would be all of the scoring in the game. The Black Bears offense was led by Ke’Bryan Hayes and Christian Kelley each with two hits. Daniel Arribas, Logan Hill, Albert Baur and Casey Hughston each added a hit.
Black Bears starting pitcher Bret Helton went four innings and allowed just one run on two hits, three walks and four strikouts. Cesilio Pimentel went two innings and struck out four. Tanner Anderson went two innings and allowed one run on three hits and two strikeouts.
Playoffs
The Black Bears are currently tied with the State College Spikes by a game in the Wild Card Standings. The Black Bears will finish up the season with three games at the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. The State College Spikes will finish up the season with three games against the Williamsport Crosscutters.
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!