WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University baseball team split a doubleheader with Davis & Elkins at Kovalick Field on Wednesday afternoon, taking a 2-1 decision in the opener before dropping a 25-2 verdict in the finale.
Coach Bo McConnaughy’s Hilltoppers (5-12, 2-6) rode Kyle Barton’s strong pitching performance to victory in the first game as the freshman hurler scattered four singles while striking out seven and issuing only one walk.
West Liberty scored both of its runs in the bottom of the third. Mike Johnson got things going with a one-out double down the right field line. Taylor Snare followed with an RBI single and took second on a wild pitch before Zane Madden scorched an RBI single to left for the second run of the game.
That proved to be more than enough for Barton, who lost his shutout bid in the top of the fifth when Davis & Elkins (10-13, 5-6) pushed across an unearned tally without benefit of a hit.
The Hilltoppers trailed just 3-0 midway through the second game only to see Davis & Elkins bat around twice in the top of the fourth in a bizarre 17-run uprising to put the game out of reach.
Dillon Mangino and Jared Taylor had RBI singles for West Liberty in the sixth.
The Hilltoppers travel to Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
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