Jacksonville Evens Series with Mountaineers

West Virginia gives up three in the eighth as they fall to Jacksonville 4-3

Jacksonville, FL – The West Virginia Mountaineers (1-1) dropped game two of the three-game series to the Jacksonville Dolphins Saturday afternoon 4-3, evening the series at one. West Virginia was holding onto a three-run lead till Christian Coipel put the Dolphins on top with a two-run RBI in the bottom of the eight to steal game two.

West Virginia freshman Victor Scott tripled down the right field line to lead off the second inning and Tevin Tucker brought him in with a hard-hit single through the right side.

Jacksonville tied it up in the fourth after Coipel worked a leadoff walk, then on a 3-1 pitch, Castillo slapped a single into right field moving Coipel over to third. Stephen Moffat placed a bunt to the right side but starting pitcher Ryan Bergert opted to go home as Coipel safely slid headfirst into home to knot the game up at one.

Victor Scott hit his second triple of the day in the sixth smacking a deep line right into right-center and using his speed again to slide safely into third and that ended starting pitcher Tyler Santana’s day as head coach Chris Hayes turned to AJ Jones to get the final out of the inning.

However, Austin Davis delivered a single up the middle to regain the Mountaineer lead 2-1.

West Virginia tacked on another run in the eighth after Davis hit a rocket up the middle that bounced off Jones’s leg and into right field as Kevin Brophy came racing home from second to give the Mountaineers a 3-1 advantage.

Bergert’s day ended after tossing six innings, striking out four and only allowing one run on four hits. West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey turned to Tyler Strechay to begin the seventh and he was pulled in the eighth after giving up a one-out walk that was followed up with an RBI double to get Jacksonville within one.

That brought Madison Jeffrey to the mound and on an 0-1 pitch, Coipel blasted the game-deciding two-run home run as the Dolphins went on to win 4-3.

A series-deciding game three between the Mountaineers and the Dolphins is Sunday with the first pitch set for noon.