WEST LIBERTY – West Liberty’s bats were as cold as the brisk northwesterly breeze that chilled fans and players alike as the Hilltoppers dropped both ends of a West Virginia Conference doubleheader to visiting Alderson-Broaddus at sun-splashed Kovalick Field Saturday afternoon.
The Battlers (4-12, 4-2) eked out a 3-1 victory in the opener before coasting to a 9-0 win in the nightcap.
Derek Daugherty ruined a shutout bid by the Battlers’ Kyle Oney in the first game when Daugherty doubled and scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh but it turned out to be a case of too little, too late for West Liberty.
The Hilltoppers, who had launched a 17-hit barrage in a 12-10 win against Charleston on Monday, were held to just 5 hits by Oney with Daugherty’s two-bagger the only extra-base knock.
Jeff Welsh pitched well in defeat for the hosts, holding A-B to just 2 earned runs while striking out 5 and walking just one in a route-going performance.
Trent Chapman had a leadoff single for West Liberty in the second game but that was the end of the Hilltoppers’ offensive production for the day.
Alderson-Broaddus southpaw Jeff Conley didn’t allow another hit the rest of the way, facing just one batter over the minimum in closing out the 1-hit shutout with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.
West Liberty will close out the weekend series against the Battlers on Sunday with a scheduled 9-inning game beginning at 1 p.m.
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