BLUEFIELD, W. Va. – The Frostburg State baseball team defeated Bluefield State 13-6 to give them a 3-0 record on their opening weekend of the season.

Sophomore Danny Estrada was FSU's lead-off hitter to start the game singling to right to kick things off. Sophomore Randy Steen singled through the left side, advancing Estrada, then senior Trevor Jones hit a sacrifice fly to put Estrada and Steen to third and second, respectively. Sophomore Mikey Guy was walked to first to load the bases, but BSU's Jordan Livingstone got a strikeout swinging to end the threat. Bluefield had no luck in the first inning either, as the score remained 0-0 going into the second.

Late in the second inning, the Bobcats were first to score when junior Aidan Duda reached on an error and stole second with two outs, becoming an important swipe as he was able to score off of a single from Estrada to give Frostburg a 1-0 lead. Junior Max Proctor was a force on the mound for the Bobcats, working a 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts.

The FSU offense was active in the third inning, starting with a pair of singles from junior Ethan Kiple and senior Andrew Smith. Senior AJ Campbell stepped up with two outs and sent one over the fence in left-center to bring in three runs and a 4-0 lead. Just after that, sophomore Christian Shertzer made it back-to-back jacks with a homer of his own to end the inning up 5-0.

Bluefield State matched the energy of the Bobcats in the bottom of the third with three straight two-out singles, as the final hit put a run across. Proctor locked in and got a swinging strikeout, with Duda throwing down to Kiple with the pitch in the dirt to complete the putout and limit the damage.

Steen was unphased by a Big Blue pitching change to start the fourth, doubling to left center, stealing third, and scoring off an error to go up by five. Jones made the most of putting the ball in play, getting to second on the error, then being brought in by a Guy double to end the inning up 7-1. The bottom half of the frame was held together by Proctor after a couple of singles, with two more strikeouts and a fly out to center field to end his day with a whopping eight K's in just four innings of work. Junior Will Grove would come into the game to relieve Proctor, working a scoreless fifth to keep the dominant pitching going.

To start the sixth, Jones was hit by a pitch, Guy single to left, and junior Lucas Gulcynski made his first appearance of the day with a walk, bringing Duda to the plate where the Bobcat catcher mashed a ball down the left field line for a grand slam, bringing the score to 11-1. Campbell walked and Shertzer got on base from an error, where each were brought in on a sac fly from sophomore Jerry Crispino and a walk by junior Nick Trey, respectively, to end the sixth with a commanding 13-1 lead.

The Big Blue attempted a late comeback with five combined runs in the sixth and seventh innings to get within 13-6 and quieted FSU's offense in the last three innings. Sophomore Cael Huyer slammed the door shut in a two-inning relief appearance, striking out three with no runs allowed for the Bobcat victory.

Frostburg's trio of Proctor, Grove, and Huyer combined to toss eight innings, allowing just two runs while striking out 12, while the offense was led by Campbell and Duda's seven total RBI and Estrada and Steen racking up six total hits. 

With the victories, FSU begins the season 3-0, while BSU falls to 2-6. The Bobcats return to the field next weekend in Cary, NC as they take on Kutztown Feb. 24 at 11am, Goldey-Beacom February 25 at 12 pm and Dominican (NY) February 26 at 2pm and 4pm. For more information please visit frostburgsports.com.