State College Spikes rally, win high-scoring game in extras

It may have taken longer than most fans anticipated, but the State College Spikes aren’t arguing with the final result.

The Spikes eked out a 13-11, 10th-inning win over West Virginia on Tuesday night in a contest that lasted roughly four hours. The two teams combined for 29 hits, nine of which went for extra bases, inside Monongalia County Ballpark in Granville, W.Va.

In the top of the 10th, with two outs and two on base, J.D. Crowe singled on a line drive to left field — where Sandy Santos committed a fielding error. Crowe was thrown out at home after the Spikes’ two base-runners both scored. Jesus Cruz then retired the side to preserve the victory.

With the win, the Spikes improve to 36-31 while the Black Bears fall to 35-32.

Player of the game

Spikes DH J.D. Crowe: No, he didn’t have the most hits. (Wood Myers and Edwin Figuera both had three.) And he didn’t have the most RBIs. (That was Yariel Gonzalez, with three.) But he came through in the clutch, hitting the game-winning single to drive in two runs. He finished a respectable 2 of 6, but it was that final hit that earned him our team MVP.

Finishing strong

Eighth and ninth: The Spikes didn’t allow any runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but that wasn’t always a guarantee. In the eighth, West Virginia had one runner on second with one out. But Will Latcham struck out consecutive batters to get out of the jam. In the ninth, it was a similar story. Two on base with one out, but a flyout and pop out forced extras.

Up next

State College at West Virginia, 7:05 p.m. Wednesday: The Spikes’ Andrew Summerville (4-0, 1.63 ERA) will hope to continue his hot hand when State College takes on Ike Schlabach (5-4, 3.20 ERA) in the final contest of the three-game series against the Black Bears.

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 11:58 PM with the headline "State College Spikes rally, win high-scoring game in extras."