WILSON, N.C. (March 11) – The California University of Pennsylvania baseball team opened its spring break trip to North Carolina with a pair of losses to Mountain East Conference (MEC) programs on Saturday, suffering a 4-3 loss to West Virginia State before dropping a 10-6 contest against Fairmont State.

With the losses, the Vulcans fall to 3-7 this year.

Against West Virginia State (6-3), Cal U led 3-1 entering the bottom of the eighth before the Yellow Jackets scored three unearned runs. The Vulcans opened the ninth inning with back-to-back base runners but were unable to advance the game-tying run past second base.

Redshirt senior first baseman David Marcus (Whitby, Ontario/Father Leo J. Austin) paced the offense by going 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run scored and one walk. Junior third baseman Levi Krause (East Berlin, Pa./Spring Grove) added a pair of hits in the loss.

WVSU left six runners on base over the first five innings before Cal U took a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth. Junior second baseman Garrett Brooks (Connellsville, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on an error before scoring on an RBI double by Marcus. The Yellow Jackets answered in the bottom of the seventh by scoring on a fielding error to tie the score at 1-1 before leaving the bases loaded.

In the top of the eighth, junior shortstop Austin Logan (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Following a fly-out, Logan scored on an RBI single by Marcus, who advanced to second on the throw to the plate. Junior right fielder Chris Wastchak (Peters Twp., Pa./Peters Township) then followed with an RBI single to give the Vulcans a 3-1 lead. The Yellow Jackets answered in the bottom of the inning by scoring three runs on only two hits to claim their first lead of the game. The inning started with a walk before a fielding error gave WVSU runners on first and second before two singles and a wild pitch led to the three runs.

The Vulcans opened the ninth by having the first two batters reach via errors before the Yellow Jackets retired the next three batters in order.

Freshman Richie Serignese (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) suffered the loss after allowing three unearned runs in the eighth. Junior starter Carter Krick (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) took a no-decision after scattering five hits and one walk over 6.0 scoreless innings.

Against Fairmont State (5-8), Cal U utilized five different pitchers with freshman Bradyn Kail (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) being saddled with the loss after yielding four runs (all earned) on four hits and two walks in 2.2 innings of relief. Freshman Jason Downs (Albion, N.Y./Charles D'Amico) worked 2.2 innings of scoreless relief without allowing a hit.

The Fighting Falcons scored twice in the first and third innings before the Vulcans scored on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. Cal U then tied the score at 4-4 in the fourth inning after six-straight batters reached base safely. Krause started the rally with a one-out double before Logan and sophomore left fielder Drew DeBerry (Uniontown, Pa./Laurel Highlands) collected back-to-back RBI singles. Following a walk, Brooks registered a two-out RBI single before the runner at first was thrown out at third to end the inning.

Cal U then took the lead on a sacrifice fly by Krause in the fifth before Fairmont State answered in the sixth inning by batting around, scoring five runs on five hits and two walks, to take a 10-5 lead. Both teams then scored once in the seventh inning with the Vulcans scoring on a sacrifice fly.

Krause went 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored, while DeBerry finished 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Marcus and Logan each added two hits in the loss.

Cal U returns to action in North Carolina tomorrow, Sunday, March 12, when it plays a nine-inning contest against Kutztown at 6:30 p.m.