PORTSMOUTH – After being held to 13 total hits over the past weekend the Shawnee State baseball team surpassed that mark with 16 total hits in the 15-7 victory against the visiting Mountaineers of Berea College (11-24). The Bears (25-22) had 11 batters have at least one hit, including four doubles and a home run on Wednesday afternoon at Branch Rickey Park.
For Shawnee State, it was their 11th time that they scored at least 10 runs this season, in which they have won each of those games. The Bears have now improved to 17-11 at home and are on a current nine-game non-conference win streak.
In a back-and-forth start, the Mountaineers and Shawnee State were tied at 5-all after the third inning. The Bears took their first lead in the fourth inning after pitcher Jake Huber came into relief and tossed a scoreless top half of the inning. Calvin Sluberski (2-for-5) singled to right field and reached second on an error a bobble to start the bottom half of the fourth. Shawnee State then took a 6-5 lead after two consecutive wild pitches, a lead the Bears would never give back.
After Huber (4-1) threw his second consecutive scoreless inning on the mound, Shawnee State scored three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend their lead to 9-5. In the inning, the Bears had doubles from Cody Spires (1-for-2) and Jordan Maier (2-for-4) and RBI's from Ryan Queener (2-for-3), Dustin Bickmeyer (1-for-3) and Maier.
Huber finished the day throwing two complete innings allowing no runs on any hits while walking one batter for the win. Over the course of the game, Shawnee State used a total of eight pitchers -- who all combined for allowing five earned runs on seven hits while striking out eight batters.
The Bears also got a solid contribution from Brad Cornwell. In the bottom of the seventh leading 10-6, Cornwell got his first RBI of the season on a sacrifice fly ball which scored Colin Keim from third, giving Shawnee State an 11-6 lead. Sluberski kept the momentum going for the Bears as he followed Cornwell with a solo home run over the right field fence.
However, Cornwell wasn't finished. In the following inning Cornwell again delivered, this time he drove a ball to right field with two-outs and bases loaded scoring both Queener and Zack Reed to extend the lead to 15-7.
Jake Lankheit also went 2-for-2 before getting injured in the middle of the game. Todd Queener reached base three times and scored two runs and Keim went 1-for-3. The Bears will be back in action this weekend against the University of Pikeville in an MSC battle in Pikeville, Ky.
