BEREA, KY- The Berea College Mountaineer baseball team took to the BC Sports Complex to take on the Mighty Oaks from the NCAA Division 2 institution from Indiana: Oakland City, winning their first game, and then losing the next three.
Game one was promising for the Berea squad, as they were able to jump on Oakland City in the late innings and win 6-5. Chad Brown pitched an impressive 5.1 innings, with Zach Roberson and Chase O'Connor shutting the door for Berea, allowing them to get their tenth win of the season. Logan Hunt had a key 2 RBI knock and Evan Hackney went 2-3.
Game two was a bit more painful for the Berea Beloved, as they allowed three runs, all of which were unearned for starter Lance Shelton, and could not answer back with the offensive routing they put on in the last few innings of the previous game. Zach Roberson pitched for the second time in as many games for an inning and a third of scoreless ball, and Nate Metz came in the 6th to shut the Mighty Oaks down in the late going. Lack of offensive power hurt Berea in this one, as they were unable to climb out of the 7-1 hole they were put in the early bit of the game.
Game three began what would end up being a very long day for the Mountaineers. Ryan Blevens did put the Mountaineers on the board with his first collegiate home run, but the rest of the team didn't follow suit, and ended up only scoring 2 runs through the first six innings. Josh Wilson pitched 3 innings, giving up four earned runs before leaving with an injury to his plant leg. Matt Wilburn gave up three runs over the next two innings, leaving it up to Nate Metz to shut it down again in the late innings. Metz couldn't quite fool the Mighty Oaks with his low sidearm delivery this time around, however, as he gave up one run in his first inning, and two in his second. Berea scored twice in the final frame to drop their second game in a row to the Oaks, 10-4. Chris Works, however, did go a perfect 3-3 on the game.
As if the day could get any worse than losing your starting pitcher to injury, and losing your second game in a row, the Mountaineers found a way to make it sting a little more. Starter Nolan Sanders couldn't get an out in the first inning before he was relieved, as he gave up 5 runs, and leaving the bases loaded. Cord Glass came in and chewed up 5 innings for Berea. Cord pitched valiantly, but still gave up 7 runs, 6 of which were earned, and left the game with the score 12-3. Griffen Norris tried to stop the bleeding, but was unable to, as he also gave up 7 runs, only 4 of which were earned. Berea scratched one more out to make the score 19-4 at the end of the game. Surely a score the Mountaineers are looking to move on from.
Wednesday will be the next Berea College baseball event. Berea College takes on the Pikeville University Bears at the Berea College Sports Complex at 4:00pm. Nate Metz is set to get his first start of his collegiate career against the Bears. For more information about the Mountaineer baseball team, be sure to check us out on our social media pages.