FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Baseball team split a Sunday afternoon doubleheader against West Liberty with a 12-5 game one win and an 11-6 loss in game two.
 
In game one on a beautiful day in Frostburg, West Liberty got off to a hot start against redshirt-freshman starter Hayden Ford, plating four runs for an early lead in the first. The Bobcats answered quickly, as leadoff freshman Danny Estrada hit a single up the middle, then senior Bryce Jackson was hit by a pitch. Junior Trevor Jones got the first run on the board with a single to left that scored Estrada from second. Junior Ethan Kiple hit an awkward bouncer to short that loaded the bases with no outs. Senior Jack Lawrence stepped up with a big hit to score a pair of runs, then Kiple raced in to score on a wild pitch. FSU would add two more runs on RBI singles from junior Andrew Smith and sophomore Aidan Dudato to complete the comeback and end the inning up 6-4.
 
In the bottom of the second, the Bobcats would continue to score, starting off with back-to-back singles from Jackson and Jones, then Kiple was hit by a pitch. Jackson was thrown out on a groundout, but Jones scored a batter later on a sacrifice fly from Smith.

With a 7-4 lead, Ford recovered to throw two scoreless innings while striking out seven. In the bottom of the third, sophomore Chase O'Dell worked a walk and moved to second after Estrada was hit by a pitch, allowing Jackson to lace a double down the right field line that scored O'Dell with the score now at 8-4. Estrada scored on a sac fly from Jones and then Kiple knocked in Jackson to push the lead to 10-4 at the end of the inning.
 
Sophomore Nick Trey relived Ford and kept the Hilltopper bats quite, working through the fourth and fifth cleanly. In the bottom of the fifth, Estrada reached base again on a single, with Jackson driving him home on a double and then coming around to score on a wild pitch for a score of 12-4. WLU got a run in the sixth off of Trey to get to 12-5, but the righty was otherwise effective, throwing the final four innings allowing just the one run while striking out seven for his second win of the season. 

The top of the lineup did its job for FSU, as Estrada, Jones, Jackson, and Kiple all recorded multiple hits and tallied a combined five RBI with 10 runs scored. 
 
West Liberty again took the early lead in game two, putting up three runs on five hits in the second inning. Senior Josh Colliflower would come on in the third and keep the Bobcats in the game with a pair of scoreless innings and two strikeouts. The Frostburg bats came in the fourth thanks to some two-out magic and erratic Hilltopper pitching. Sophomore Justin Jimenez and freshman Christian Shertzer were both hit by a pitch to reach base, then Estrada reached on a check swing infield single to load the bases. Jackson worked a walk to drive in a run, then Jones was the third batter hit by a pitch in the inning to get within a run. Kiple came up with another big hit two plate a pair of runs and give FSU the lead 4-3. 
 
A combination of hits, errors, and walks led to a big sixth inning for the Hilltoppers, as they got four runs across to take the lead 8-4. The Bobcats responded in the bottom half of the inning, with Jackson hitting a single to left, with Kiple once more providing a spark, this time a two-run bomb into right-center to cut the deficit in half. West Liberty was able to take the momentum away in the seventh with three runs, then worked a scoreless final half inning to make the final score 11-6.

Jackson and Kiple both provided a majority of the offense, combining for five hits and five RBI in the loss. 
 
At the end of the four-game weekend series, the Bobcats now stand at 28-10 and the Hilltoppers move to 11-30 on the season. FSU will return to action when they travel to play Millersville on April 27 at 3:30 PM. Check for updates at frostburgsports.com