BECKLEY, W.Va. – Tied, in the 13^th inning of play in the opening round of the MEC Baseball tournament, senior second baseman hit a walk off single to lift the Golden Eagles over the Fairmont State Falcons 6-5.
 
THE BASICS
GAME 1 SCORE– UC 6, FSU 5
LOCATION – Beckley, W.Va. – Linda K. Epling Stadium
RECORDS— Charleston (34-17 MEC), FSU (25-24)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the bottom of the 13^th inning with two runners on, Morello stepped to the plate with two outs on the board, hitting a single to right center that drove in the winning run, ending he game in favor of the Golden Eagles.  
 
With the game one victory, Charleston advances to face the loser of Concord v. Notre Dame on Friday.

Austin Hathaway drove in three runs for the Golden Eagles, two of which tied the game up. The senior finished with a 3-for-6 performance at the plate. Morello and Johnson each had three hits, but it was Morello's 3-for-5 outing with two RBI that led the Golden Eagles.

Austin Henrich got the start for the Golden Eagles, pitching 5.0 innings, striking out six batters.  It was Jacob Kaiser who picked up the win after closing in 4.1 innings, with five strikeouts for the Golden Birds. Houston Morris, took the loss in relief after pitching 104 pitches. Out of the bullpen Morris tabbed six strikeouts in 6.1 innings.

The Falcons starter and MEC pitcher of the year, Michael Stout tallied six strikeouts in 6.1 innings before handing the ball off to Morris.

Jordan Sanders and Chris Green led the Falcons with two hits each while four other Falcons tallied RBI in the loss.

The Falcons jumped ahead in the top of the first, with a pair of singles to take the 2-0 lead. With Arrington on second in the bottom of the first, Morello singled to right field cutting the lead to 2-1. After Jack Brunetti doubled to left field, Austin Hathaway knocked in the tying run on a doubled to the left side.

The Falcons took the lead again in the top of the third as Trickett scored on a single from Skidmore, but a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning allowed Johnson to scored tying the game at 3-3.

In the top of the fourth the Falcons tacked on two runs to take the 5-3 lead.
 
Austin Hathaway hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the fifth cutting the Falcon lead to one run. Two innings later, Hathaway knocked in the tying run against on a single up the middle that scored Morello.
 
The Golden Eagles toughed out six scoreless innings from both teams before Kyle Keenan scored on Morello's single to end the game.
 
UP NEXT
The Golden Eagles will face the Notre Dame Falcons on Day two of the MEC tournament in a 7:00 p.m. matchup Friday.