SSU Baseball wins ninth game over last 10, improves to 12-5 in 2025 with 9-5 road win over Bluefield (Va.)

BLUEFIELD, Va. -- Shawnee State's ability to hit from the top of its lineup all the way down to the bottom of the order has been a strength for the Bears all year long.

That fact was on display again Tuesday afternoon in Bluefield, Va. -- as the Bears overcame a 5-4 deficit by scoring five unanswered runs, all coming in the seventh and eighth innings of play, to collect a 9-5 triumph over the Bluefield Rams' baseball program in a nonconference contest that was held at Bowen Field.

Shawnee State, who posted 13 runs on nine hits, won its ninth game over its last 10 affairs with Tuesday's victory. The Bears nabbed six hits in the seventh and eighth innings of play alone to overcome the one-run deficit.

Tuesday's 13-hit outing marked the sixth time in the last eight contests that Shawnee State produced at least a dozen or more hits in a game. The Bears have nabbed double-digit hits in nine of their 17 contests this season and have tallied eight or more knocks in 12 out of their 17 official affairs.

After initially trailing by a 1-0 margin following the opening inning of play, Shawnee State struck in the second frame to take a 2-1 lead -- as a leadoff walk by Wyatt Haupt and a single by Zach Gaspar ultimately allowed Eli Jones to drive in an equalizing run with his RBI single to left. Ryan Scott's run later in the inning ultimately put the Bears out in front after two innings complete.

While Bluefield came back with two runs in the third frame to take a brief 3-2 lead, Shawnee State came back to tie the score as Gaspar's walk, followed by a double from Scott, allowed Jones to drive in his second run of the game on a fielder's choice to tie the score at three runs apiece after the fourth inning of work.

Bluefield answered by scoring two out of the contest's next three runs to take the aforementioned 5-4 count after six innings complete, but Shawnee State's bats proved to be too strong.

In the seventh inning of action, an error to begin the top of the seventh frame by Bluefield -- along with one-out singles by Scott and Jones -- opened the door slightly for Tyler Lund to produce with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh.

True to form, Lund emphatically slammed the door -- as the senior shot a three-run triple to right field to clear the bases, scoring Haupt, Scott and Jones as the Bears took a 7-5 advantage. Lund's triple then allowed Jace Parnin to collect an RBI of his own -- as Parnin's sacrifice fly drove Lund in from third base to give Shawnee State an 8-5 advantage after seven innings of play.

With a solid three-run cushion in its back pocket, the Bears then proceeded to close the deal in the eighth -- as Gaspar's one-out double was followed by another two-bag base hit by Scott right after, resulting in an RBI double for Scott that gave Shawnee State a 9-5 advantage -- and proved to be more than enough to successfully hold off Bluefield.

For the contest, Scott (3-for-5, two doubles, RBI, three runs scored), Jones (3-for-5, two RBI, run scored), Gaspar (2-for-4, walk, double, two runs scored), Mason Reid (2-for-4, double, walk) and Diego Mendoza (2-for-5, walk) all joined the multi-hit column, while Lund (1-for-6, triple, four RBI, run scored) posted the game-changing hit in the seventh frame to lead the Shawnee State offensive lineup.

Pitching-wise, Shawnee State struck out six batters between Scott, Jace Parnin, Jacob Wiersma, Jaxon Craig, Malik Diack, and Ricardo Medrano -- while James Bodrock and Trent Tice also threw in the contest.

Additional

Shawnee State (12-5, 2-1 River States Conference) is scheduled to take on Indiana-Kokomo (4-15, 0-3 River States Conference) in a weekend series that will be played at Kokomo Municipal Stadium in Kokomo, Ind. Game times are currently set for 2 p.m. Friday and 12 p.m. Saturday -- the latter day of which will be a conference doubleheader. Any changes to the schedule will be made at www.ssubears.com and will be posted on Facebook (Shawnee State Athletics), Instagram (@ssubears) and Twitter (@SSUBears).