WVU Mountaineer Sports: Basketball | Football | News |Baseball: Gold Wins World Series

Two home runs by left fielder Gabe Brown and a solid pitching performance by starter Zach Bargeron led the Gold team to a 14-6 victory and a 2-1 series win in the 22^nd annual Blue-Gold World Series on Monday evening at Hawley Field.

"Gabe Brown is a talented hitter and he showed what he is capable of tonight", says WVU skipper Greg Van Zant. 

Brown finished the evening 2-for-4 with two home runs, a walk, a hit by pitch and a sacrifice fly, while Bargeron went 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on three hits. Bargeron also struck out four and walked one in notching the win.

"Zach pitched no-hit ball for the first four innings," Van Zant says. "He attacked the strike zone and had excellent mound presence tonight." 

Center fielder Brady Wilson and first baseman/pitcher Ryan McBroom led the Gold team as well with 3-for-7 and 3-for-5 performances, respectively. Wilson had two doubles, one single and reached on an error, while McBroom added a double and two singles.

Gold jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the second with a two-out rally that saw six runs cross the plate on seven hits highlighted by Brown's two-run blast.

Wilson hit a two-run single to left that drove in Ryan Bennett, who started the rally with a walk, and Bobby Boyd, who was on base after a double down the left field line.

Wilson was driven in from second in the next at-bat by a single from right fielder Jacob Ringold to center to extend the lead to 3-0.

Brown then brought the game to 5-0 with his blast to left center field, his second home run of the fall, to drive in Ringold.

L.K. Thompson drove in the final run of the frame with a single to right center that plated McBroom who doubled after Brown's homer.

Caleb Ross relieved Blue starting pitcher Tyler Dipzinski to end the damage and the inning. Dipzinski allowed six runs and nine hits in 1.2 innings pitched. He also struck out one batter.

The Blue nearly got a run back in the bottom half of the inning, but a strong throw by Ringold from right field nailed the tagging run from third, Tyler Steele-Worsham, at home plate for the final out of the inning.

The Gold squad extended the lead to 8-0 in the top of fourth that was fueled by a Boyd sacrifice fly to drive in Thompson and a double to left field by Wilson that scored Bennett.

Brown struck again in the fifth inning with a lead off homer to left to bring the score to 9-0. Boyd drove in the Gold's 10^th run of the game with a liner to shortstop that was mishandled by Stuart Jeck, scoring McBroom. Wilson continued his hot streak with a single to center field that drove in Billy Fleming and Bennett.

Back-to-back hit by pitches to Ringold and Brown drove in the final run of the inning to score Boyd and make the score 13-0.

A lead-off single by pitcher Nate Antone broke-up Bargeron's no-hitter in the fifth. Right fielder Chris Rasky then pinch ran for Antone and advanced to second and third on wild pitches, before scoring on a ground ball to third base by Jon Roszel.

The Blue team added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth off a two-run single to center field by Antone, his second hit of the evening.

The Gold squad was able to come back and extend the lead when Wilson reached base for the fourth time in the game in the top of the seventh on an error by second baseman Justin Fox. Wilson was driven in by Brown, his fifth RBI of the game, to bring the game to 14-3.

            Facing the 10-run rule in the bottom of the seventh, Steele-Worsham came through for the Blue with two outs and hit a two-run single to center field that scored Jeck and catcher Matt Malloy to bring the game to 14-6.

Ross finished with 3.1 innings pitched and allowed one earned run on six hits. The rookie left-hander struck out two, walked four and hit two Gold batters.

 Nate Antone pitched the sixth, seventh and eighth innings in relief of Ross and Justin Fox came in from second base to hurl the ninth for the losing Blue squad. Antone allowed just one unearned run and one hit, while striking out two in his outing.  Fox faced four hitters in the ninth, walking one.

            McBroom relieved Bargeron for the Gold with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and threw 2.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on five base hits. McBroom struck out two and walked two in his appearance. Boyd pitched a perfect ninth inning to seal the win for the Gold.

             Perhaps the defensive gem of the series occurred on the final out when Matt Frazer connected on an offering from Boyd for an apparent home run to right field. However, Ringold made a sensational leaping catch above the outfield fence to rob Frazer of the homer.

"That was one of the best catches I have ever seen here at Hawley Field", remarked Van Zant. "Jake also threw out a runner at the plate to end the second inning. He's pretty good in the outfield."

            Steele-Worsham was named the series MVP of the Blue team after finishing 8-for-11 at the plate with a home run, triple and six RBIs. Brown won series MVP honors for the winning Gold squad after a 6-for-11 hitting performance that included two home runs, two doubles and five RBIs.

The Mountaineers return to the diamond Tuesday for an afternoon practice at Hawley Field.