MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - Junior shortstop Nick Natoli had three hits and drove in four runs as the Tigers (9-20) overcame a 4-0 first inning deficit to hand West Virginia University (13-15) a 10-4 loss in a non-conference game at Hawley Field on Tuesday afternoon.
Natoli led the Tigers' 16-hit attack as Towson won its four consecutive game. Sophomore righthander Sean Bertrand and senior lefthander Wes Shifflett came out of the bullpen to pitch five shutout innings. Bertrand, who earned his first win of the season, threw three shutout innings and allowed only one base hit. Shifflett threw two shutout innings as he earned his first save of the season.
In the top of the first inning, the Tigers missed out on a great opportunity to take an early lead. Sophomore centerfielder Ben Winter led off the game by drawing a walk. He advanced to second base when junior righthander Andy Berry hit Natoli with a pitch. However, Berry escaped the inning when he struck out senior rightfielder Kevin Collins and junior second baseman Chris Wychock while Winter was retired trying to steal third base.
West Virginia jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against senior righthander Austin Hurd. After Hurd struck out junior shortstop Jedd Gyorko, junior second baseman Dom Hayes singled to second base. When Hurd issued a walk to junior Matt Malloy, the Mountaineers had two runners on base. Hayes and Malloy moved into scoring position as junior designated hitter Jeremy Gum was retired on a ground ball back to the mound.
When junior first baseman Justin McDonald lined a single to rightfield, both runners scored to give West Virginia a 2-0 lead. Moments later, junior third baseman Colin Durborow blasted a two-run homer down the left field line to make it a 4-0 game. Freshman leftfielder Chris Rasky followed with an infield single before Hurd struck out junior centerfielder Mark Dvoroznak to end the inning.
After surrendering four runs in the first inning, Hurd settled down nicely. He gave the Tigers a chance to come from behind by throwing three shutout innings. In his most effective outing of the season, Hurd pitched four innings and gave up four runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Trailing by 4-0 in the third inning, the Tigers started chipping away at their deficit. Winter led off the inning with a triple down the rightfield line. He scored the Tigers' first run of the game when Natoli grounded out.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Tigers trimmed the lead to 4-2. Natoli led off the inning with a single. He advanced to third base when Collins singled and was thrown out trying to stretch the single into a double. A single to leftfield by Wychock plated Natoli. However, relief pitcher Andy Altimus ended the inning by striking out freshman Kurt Wertz and getting junior Austin Harclerode to ground out to shortstop.
The Tigers rallied to take a 6-4 lead in the top of the sixth inning. Junior designated hitter Steve Rice led off the inning with a single to left. A bunt single by junior Eric Weller put the tying runs on base. Both runners moved up a base when freshman catcher Andrew Parker grounded out to shortstop. Rice scored to make it a 4-3 game when Winter grounded out to shortstop. A two-out double to centerfield by Natoli drove in Weller with the tying run, knocking Altimus out of the game.
Senior righthander Chris Enourato came in from the bullpen and issued an intentional walk to Collins, putting two runners on base. The move backfired when Wychock lined a two-run double to centerfield, driving in two runs and giving Towson a 6-4 advantage. Enourato escaped the inning with no further damage when he struck out Wertz.
Bertrand and Shifflett shut down the Mountaineers until the Tigers added four more runs in the ninth inning. Wertz led off the inning by drawing a walk and he advanced to third base as Harclerode singled to rightfield. After Rice was retired on an infield pop fly, Harclerode stole second base. Weller was walked intentionally to load the bases.
A sacrifice fly by Parker drove in Wertz to give the Tigers a 7-4 lead. When Winter doubled to leftfield, Harclerode came around to score, putting Towson up by 8-4. When Natoli lined a two-run single to centerfield, the Tigers owned a 10-4 advantage.
Natoli led the Tigers by going three-for-five with two runs scored and four runs batted in. Winter had a double and a triple and two RBI's. Collins, who was the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week last week, also had three hits. Wychock added two hits and three RBI's while Rice and Weller had two hits each.
Tiger pitchers held West Virginia to no runs on three hits over the final eight innings of the game.
Towson will be seeking its fifth consecutive victory when it hosts Delaware State on Wednesday afternoon at Schuerholz Park at 3:00 p.m.
