UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Zach Kirtley’s walk-off single in the ninth capped a three-run frame as the State College Spikes came back to defeat the West Virginia Black Bears, 5-4, for a big win on Tuesday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
(Photo: Edwin Figuera. Photo courtesy of State College Spikes)
The victory allowed State College (31-29) to draw within three games of West Virginia (34-26) and Mahoning Valley for the New York-Penn League Pinckney Division lead with 16 games left in the regular season.
Kirtley brought in pinch-runner Edwin Figuera with his single to left field to give the Spikes their third home win in the last four games, with all three coming in walk-off fashion.
Down 4-2 headed into the ninth, the Spikes started the final frame by loading the bases on walks to Bryce Denton and Ricardo Bautista sandwiched around a Brandon Benson single. J.D. Crowe then brought in a run with a fielder’s choice, and pinch-hitter Scott Hurst reached on an error to tie the game before Kirtley’s heroics.
West Virginia took the opening lead of the game on Raul Hernandez’s sacrifice fly in the second. The Black Bears then took advantage of a two-out error to score a pair of runs on a wild pitch and a Tristan Gray single in the fifth to extend their lead to 3-0.
The first of Crowe’s two hits on the evening then brought in the first State College run in the fifth before Bligh Madris smashed his fourth homer of the year to right field for a solo shot to make it 4-1, Black Bears.
Yariel Gonzalez set up the Spikes’ ninth-inning surge with his sacrifice fly in the eighth to notch his team-leading 30th RBI.
State College reliever Spencer Trayner (5-1) picked up another win with a scoreless, one-hit ninth inning on the mound. Starter Jonathon Mulford yielded three runs, one of them earned, on three hits, two walks and a hit batsman while striking out a season-most six batters over 5 2/3 innings.
Brandon Bingel (0-2) took the loss after notching just one out in the ninth inning. Bingel was charged with three runs, two of them earned, on two hits and two walks during his lone inning of work.
The Spikes improved their record when trailing after seven innings to 2-25, with the wins coming in their last two meetings with the Black Bears.
Wednesday, the Spikes and Black Bears meet for the middle game of their three-game series at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. State College will send NYPL All-Star left-hander Daniel Castano (7-2) to the mound for the 7:05 p.m. matchup, while West Virginia will respond with right-hander Beau Sulser (2-3).
