Frostburg State University Athletics

CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The Frostburg State Baseball team remained unbeaten in the MEC Tournament with a huge 14-8 win against Point Park on Friday afternoon.
 
Freshman Tanner Cunningham started off this game the same way he did the day before, with a lead-off double to the left-center gap before moving over to third as sophomore Manny Hall reached on an error. That allowed junior Jackson Schalick to hit a deep sac fly to center, scoring Cunningham. A pick off from the Pioneers looked to keep the Bobcats limited to just one run, then senior Jake Holler lined a double to right before scoring on a freshman Drew Jourdan single. The final run of the inning came when junior Ryan Bouma launched his first hit of the day into left, bringing Jourdan in to score and putting FSU up 3-0 early.
 
Already with some cushion, freshman starter Bryce Bauer made quick work of PPU's batters with a swinging K and two grounders to the left side to put his offense back up again. After two quick outs, Cunningham and Hall drew back-to-back walks before the pair came home on a triple to left from Schalick, making the score 5-0. Point Park generated some traffic on the bases in the second after back-to-back lead-off singles, though Bauer was able to get the next two batters via a grounder and a strikeout swinging. The Pioneers kept the frame alive on a walk load the bases, then the runner on third scored on a wild pitch to put their first run on the board.
 
Frostburg's bats were kept quiet in the third, and the Pioneers lowered the deficit to three in the bottom half as a double and two-out single led to a 5-2 score. In the fourth inning, the Bobcats' offense was able to extend the lead, as Cunningham and Hall each got free bases, then Schalick beat out an infield single and Holler drove a sac fly to center to bring Cunningham home. With two outs, Jourdan belted a ball to the gap in left-center, running out a triple and bringing in two more runs. Bouma continued the rally with a ripped liner to left, plating Jourdan and ballooning the score to 9-2.
 
With the offense giving Bauer much room to work with, a lead-off single didn't phase him, as he got the next three hitters via strikeout and two fly balls. FSU was held scoreless in the fifth as PPU capitalized on a couple of well-placed singles, then on some more two-out offense, Trevor Jones sent a 1-0 pitch into the scoreboard in left to bring the score to 9-5.
 
Once again finding a response, the Bobcats got back-to-back singles from Holler and Jourdan followed by a wild pitch to put two runners in scoring position. Continuing his perfect day at the plate, Bouma lined a hard single to left, scoring both players for an 11-5 game. 
 
In his last inning of work, Bauer set down Point Park 1-2-3 in the sixth with a grounder and two fly balls before Frostburg's offense went back to work in the seventh. Schalick started things off with a one-out double to left field before heading to third on a wild pitch, putting him in perfect position to score on a Holler sac fly. Jourdan continued the scoring, using his speed to his advantage as he beat out a bunt single before stealing second and then scoring on another Bouma double. The next run came off the bat of junior Logan Helser, as he lined a single to left to score Bouma from second and bring the lead to nine at 14-5.
 
Out of the bullpen, graduate Ty Morris came into pitch the bottom half, getting through the Pioneer offense fairly easily outside of a walk, working a pair of swinging K's. After a scoreless inning went by for the FSU offense, PPU had their best offensive frame, going for a single, a walk, and pair of doubles to plate three runs and move the score to 14-8. Redshirt sophomore Cody Sharman came in to finish the inning, only needing one pitch to get the final batter to ground out to third. Frostburg threatened at the top of the ninth with Holler and Bouma putting knocks together while Helser drew a walk, however Point Park was able to get out of the jam with a strikeout. Sharman came back out to toe the rubber in the final half inning, and despite a one-out single, he was able to get the final two batters on a pair of grounders to seal the Bobcats' 14-8 win.
 
Bouma led FSU's offense with an outstanding 5-for-5 performance, reaching base in all six of his plate appearances while driving in five runs. Jourdan was right behind with five hits, as he and Schalick each knocked in three. Bauer earned the win, pitching six innings with five runs on eight hits while striking out five. Morris and Sharman combined for 2.1 innings of relief, allowing no runs and just two baserunners between them.
 
With the win, Frostburg improves to 36-16 while Point Park drops to 30-21. FSU will next face Glenville State on Saturday, May 9 at 4:30 p.m. For more information, please visit frostburgsports.com.