Box Score - Game One
Box Score - Game Two
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Lake Erie lived up to its name as the Storm literally brought a storm with them to assist in taking a doubleheader sweep over the University of Charleston baseball team by scores of 6-2 & 13-9, Wednesday afternoon at Appalachian Power Park.
LEC (7-4) used four hits to muster together four runs to break a 1-1 deadlock in the fourth inning of game one against Charleston (5-14) starter Stuart Cohen (Cooper City, Fla./Cooper City). The big inning was the only slip that Cohen made in his 4.0 innings of work as he scattered just three hits in the first three innings, yet it would be enough for the Storm to seal the win.
Charleston tacked on a single run in the home half of the fourth after John Schraer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) led off with a triple deep off the centerfield wall, but Lake Erie countered with a single insurance run in the top of the seventh to set the score at 6-2.
The second game saw the bats come alive on both sides as LEC collected three singles and a pair of well placed doubles down the line to run out to a quick 4-0 advantage on freshman starter Alec Austin (Ronceverte, W.Va./Greenbrier East). UC countered with back-to-back RBI hits from Schraer and Garrett Proctor (Fleming, Ohio/Vincent-Warren) to pull within two runs headed into the second inning.
The Golden Eagles tagged the scoreboard for single runs in the second and third inning before Lake Erie blew the game wide open by finding their way through their lineup by taking advantage of multiple Charleston miscues. The Storm gathered seven runs in the fourth on five hits, but were assisted by a bumbled routine pop-up to right-center field that allowed two runs to cross the plate and extend the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth Andy Stichter (Inglis, Fla./Dunnellon) struck for a two-RBI double past a diving third baseman to pull UC within 11-6, yet the Charleston bullpen could not silence the Lake Erie bats that would counter with two-runs of their own in the top of the fifth making the score 13-6.
Headed into the sixth inning the beautiful spring day quickly turned as the sun rolled behind dark clouds approaching from the west. A Charleston went into its half of the sixth a light rain began to fall as the Storm used some help from mother-nature in the form of a tornado watch to quell a Golden Eagle comeback.
The teams attempted to play quickly to finish the contest, but UC would break loose for four singles in the sixth to plate three runs and get within 13-9. The weather did not hold off long as immediately after Brad Johnson (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) struck for a two-RBI single the storm in the sky erupted with torrential rain and marble sized hail. The Storm of Lake Erie were able to claim the abbreviated victory using some help from a real-life storm to silence Charleston just as the hitters had zeroed-in.
Senior Nick Barnes (Strasburg, Va./Strasburg) paced UC in the second game by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Schraer registered a 2-for-3 and two RBI performance.
The Golden Eagles get back to the field on Saturday, March 26 for a doubleheader at 1:00 pm against West Virginia Conference opponent WV Wesleyan at Appalachian Power Park.
