WILSON, NC - The Bloomsburg University baseball team went 1-1 today as it beat Fairmont State 6-5 before falling to Wilmington University (Del.) 10-7 in two separate games that were played on Saturday as part of the Wilson Tobs Tournament.

The Huskies got the best of the Falcons by breaking a 5-5 tie ballgame in the top of ninth inning thanks to a RBI single that was hit by Brady Gibble (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson). Mason Keene (Bear, Del./Appoquinimink), who was pinch running for Jared Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty), scored the go-ahead run.

The second game saw Wilmington score seven runs in three innings to top Bloomsburg, 10-7.

Game 1: Bloomsburg 6, Fairmont State 5
The Huskies were able to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning after scoring a pair of runs on a Wyatt Metzger (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) single. Then in the third, Kyle OFier (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston Area) extended the team's lead to three after pulling a solo home run over the right-field wall. The Falcons got their first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth, but Bloomsburg answered by scoring a run in both of the next two innings to make its lead 5-1.

Fairmont State was able to piece together its own rally by knocking in a pair of runs in the sixth inning on a Dwayne Thomas two-run homer, then having another two-run inning in the seventh to knot things up at 5-5. 

No runs were scored in the eighth, then Gibble's clutch hit in the top of the ninth gave Bloomsburg a 6-5 advantage. Nate Baranski (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) closed the door on the Falcons in the bottom-half of the inning to pick up the win. Baranski had eight strikeouts in three innings and allowed just three hits. Dylan Lubinski (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) started the game and threw 4.1 innings while Casey Fitzsimmons (Burlington, N.J./Holy Cross) tossed 1.2 innings in relief.

Newbert, Gibble and Tyler Wiik (Fogelsville, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) all recorded doubles during the game while OFier also had an extra-base hit with his homer. Burcin and Jake Reed (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) had two hits during the contest. 

Game 2: Wilmington 10, Bloomsburg 7
The second game of the day saw more offense and many more momentum swings as both teams posted huge rallies to regain the lead at different points in the contest.

Wilmington took the first lead of the game in the second inning by scoring runs on a sacrifice fly and throwing error. Then Bloomsburg responded with the first big rally of the game by posting a huge five-run fourth inning to take control of the contest at 5-2. The Huskies' rally began with Ben Newbert (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Harriton) hitting a three-run double in a bases-loaded situation to break the inning open. Newbert then scored on a Brandon Ernst (Limerick, Pa./Spring Ford) single to in the team's next at bat. Reed walked and Carter Chasanov (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) singled to make the bases loaded again, then Burcin collected a walk that allowed Ernst to score from third. Wildcats' pitcher Xander Emberger escaped any more damage by forcing a ground out with the bases loaded to end the inning with the bases juiced. 

With two runners in scoring position, Wilmington scored a run in the bottom of the fourth on a single but Bloomsburg left fielder Wyatt Metzger (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) threw out a second runner trying to score on the play to limit the damage. Metzger then scored in the top of the fifth on a Newbert double, and Newbert would score on a failed pick-off attempt to make the game 7-3. 

The next rally went on to be the most pivotal of the day as Wilmington put together four runs in the bottom of the seventh to regain the lead. A three-run homer by Dwayne Thomas knotted the game up at 7-7, then the Wildcats scored the go-ahead run on a sac fly. The team added insurance runs in the eighth to make the game 10-7.

The Huskies finished the contest with a total of 11 hits, seven of which came from different players. Newbert led the way with four RBI, two runs scored and three hits. Chasanov had two hits and Burcin went 2-3 with a RBI and run scored. Gibble had a double and run scored while OFier, Metzger and Ernst all recorded hits. 

The Huskies used five different pitchers as Kelly Holdren (Millville, Pa./Millville Area) was chalked with the loss. Scott Gilbert (Scranton, Pa./Abington Heights) faced the most batters as he went 3.1 innings and struck out four hitters while allowing two hits. 

Up Next
The Huskies (6-4) will play Fairmont State on Sunday at 11 a.m. in their final game of the Wilson Tobs Tournament.