University's Wenkai Campbell (18) delivers a pitch against Buckhannon-Upshur on Wednesday. William Wotring/The Dominion Post
University’s comeback bid falls short in elimination game against Buckhannon-Upshur
MORGANTOWN — The University baseball team saw its season come to a close on Wednesday night against Buckhannon-Upshur in a Region I, Section 2 elimination game on Shilling Field at Mylan Park.
After the Buccaneers (13-16) scored six runs in the top of the first inning, the Hawks managed to chip away at the lead and came as close as the tying run reaching third in the bottom of the seventh before falling 7-6.
UHS finishes the 2024 season with an overall record of 16-15.
“Kudos to (Buckhannon-Upshur) today, they came out ready to play and took advantage of a big first inning and jumped on us and it shocked us a bit,” UHS head coach Brad Comport said. “It took us a while to process and we had to adjust and change some things. Today was the story of our year as a whole a little bit in the sense that we’ve gone down in a game and had to fight to come back and take the game. I’m proud of the kids for the way they fought today, and all season.”
The visitors got started early as the first batter of the game was hit by UHS starter Mason McDonald, who then overthrew first base on a groundball. A walk then loaded the bases and was followed by a double to left field that scored the first two runs of the game.
Gage Parsons extended the lead for B-U with a single to right, then Blake Runyon ripped a groundball for the fourth run of the inning. Another double, the fourth hit of the inning for the Buccaneers, saw two more runs score as the Hawks trailed 6-0 before recording an out.
UHS began to chip away in the bottom of the second after Max Cash doubled and was brought home by Duke Seggie who hit a two-bagger of his own to make the game 6-1.
Wenkai Campbell worked a quick inning on the mound in the top of the third after relieving McDonald and the Hawks went back to work.
Brodee Latocha scored McDonald who was walked to cut the lead to 6-2. After Campbell was hit by a pitch, Mason Chaney rifled a double into right field that scored both runners and saw the lead cut to two at 6-4.
With two outs, Seggie delivered once again with a single that brought Anderson home and cut the lead to one run.
Buckhannon responded quickly in the top of the fourth with a walk that was followed by a double to center field by Landon Marple that extended the lead back to two runs, 7-5.
After empty frames for each team in the fifth and sixth innings, the Hawks came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh needing two runs to extend the game and their season.
Latocha hit a lead-off double and reached third as the ball slipped away from the outfield. Campbell then hit a fly ball in the infield that was dropped and allowed Latocha to cut the game to one run. But the comeback would fall short as the Buccaneers secured the next three outs to take the contest.
“We did everything in our power to try to come back today,” Comport said. “We got back to doing what has made us successful in the box and ran the bases aggressively and it helped give ourselves a chance today. I was most proud of the fact that we didn’t back off when we went down and had the fight in us. We’re trying to build a culture here and a program that is a family here. We had some new faces and old faces here this year and we are proud of what is building here with the team.”
