TENNERTON - East Fairmont starter Justin Schmidt struck out 11 Buckhannon-Upshur hitters Monday night, leading the Bees to a 5-3 road victory.
The win came over a Buc squad that also received a strong outing from starter Dalton Westfall, who struck out 10 hitters in five innings himself.
East Fairmont got on the board first, posting a single run in the top of the first. Tony Hayes reached and scored on a fielder's choice. B-U tied the game in the bottom of the third and each team scored in their respective halves of the fifth inning, tying the score at 3-3.
Buckhannon-Upshur squandered some opportunities late, failing to capitalize on a Nathan Matthews double in the sixth, and leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh.
Conversely, the Bees came up with the big hit that proved to be the difference. Seth Corwin drilled a single up the middle in the top of the seventh, scoring Cutter Atha and Joseph Casalnova.
"In the first inning, we made two errors and gave up two walks, so we essentially gave them the first run," Buckhannon-upshur head coach Adam Squires said. "The odds are always against you if you give up that first run. We did some good things, but we also let some opportunities get away. We didn't have an approach at the plate, and we kept letting ourselves get frozen with the curveball."
Buckhannon-upshur outhit East Fairmont 8-4, but could not finish as they left a total of eight men on base. Westfall held the Bees to only two hits over his five innings, complementing his ten strikeouts. He walked four hitters. Schmidt's 11 strikeouts included the scattering of the eight hits, while walking one Buc hitter.
Matthews led the B-U attack with a 2-for-3 night. Single hits were recorded by Josh Heathcoe, Westfall, Daniel Powell and Corey Reed. Dalton Crislip pitched the final two innings adding a pair of strikeouts, giving the staff a total of 12 punch-outs for the evening.
Buckhannon-Upshur falls to 3-2 on the season and will return to action tonight at home against Bridgeport.
